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J.  CAMPBELL  WHITE 


Union    Biblical    Seminary 


AhhrtBBts  bg 

J.  Campbell  White,  Dr.  O.  P.  Gifford 
and  Dr.  C.  I.  B.  Brane 


UNITED   BRETHREN   PUBLISHING  HOUSE 
Nineteen  Hundred  and  Six  Dayton,  Ohio 


All  Rights  Reserved  by 
Ukiteu  Brethren  Publishing  House 

I90i) 


Bible  Conference  Addresses 


SDvmins  feierbice. 


Thursday,  May  3,  1906. 
The  opening  session  of  the  Bible  Conference  was  held  in  the  Summit  Street 
United  Brethren  Church,  and  after  the  singing  of  several  songs  and  prayer, 
J.  Campbell  White  delivered  the  opening  address,  taking  as  the'  basis  of  his 
remarks  Matt.  23:34-45;  Matt.  24:31-46. 

J.  Campbell  White's  Opening  Address. 

This  is  the  test  which  is  to  be  applied  to  our  lives  finally.  We  are  going  to 
taUv  about  methods  during  this  conference.  I  believe  it  will,  therefore,  be 
appropriate  this  evening  to  talk  about  the  supreme  test  that  is  to  be  applied  to 
our  lives  finally.  I  cannot  remember  now  who  the  writer  is  that  thus  describes 
the  spirit  of  neighborliness  of  which  we  have  just  read,  but  I  want  to 
talk  about  that  test  here  at  the  beginning  of  this  conference. 

What  would  you  answer  if  I  were  to  ask  you.  What  is  the  greatest  sin  in  the 
world?  If  I  were  to  get  from  each  of  you  an  answer  to  that  question,  I  pre- 
sume we  would  have  a  great  deal  of  variety  here  to-night.  Most  of  you  would 
probably  put  your  finger  down  and  say  the  breaking  of  this  or  that  command- 
ment is  the  greatest  sin.  I  would  like  to  refer  you  to  the  commaiidment  we 
read  awhile  ago,  which  is  the  reply  of  our  Lord  in  answer  to  the  question, 
"Teacher,  which  is  the  greatest  commandment  of  the  law?  And  he  said  unto 
him.  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy. heart,  and  with  all  thy 
soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind.  This  is  the  first  and  great  commandment.  And 
the  second  is  like  unto  it.  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  On  these 
hang  the  Avhole  law  and  the  ])rophets."  If  there  is  a  first  and  greatest  com- 
mandment, must  not  the  breaking  of  that  commandment  be  the  greatest  sin? 
It  is  possible  to  break  the  whole  decalogue  at  once  by  failing  to  fulfill  the  obli- 
gation laid  on  us  by  our  Lord  when  he  said,  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy 
God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself."  The  Lord  would  make  sure  that  each  one  of  us  loves  our 
neighbor  just  as  much  as  we  do  ourselves.  Paul  went  a  little  further  and 
said  in  Galatians  5  :14,  "For  the  whole  law  is  fulfilled  in  one  word,  even  in  this: 
Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  He  seems  for  the  moment  to  be  out 
of  view  of  the  commandment  Jesus  gave  concerning  love  to  God,  and,  as  it 
were,  to  forget  it. 

We  wonder  why  Paul  should  speak  not  a  single  word  concerning  the  obli- 
gation of  love  to  God,  and  should  give  only  that  one  injunction,  "Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself"?  But  we  shall  see  that  this  harmonizes  in  every 
particular  with  the  law  laid  down  by  our  Lord,  when  we  look  into  one  of  the 

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epistles  of  John  and  read  (I.  John  4:20),  "If  a  man  say,  I  love  God,  and 
hateth  his  brother,  he  is  a  liar :  for  he  that  loveth  not  his  brother  whom  he  hath 
seen,  cannot  love  God,  whom  he  hath  not  seen." 

So  we  must  admit  that  the  supreme  test  of  love  is  neighborliness — the  love 
of  our  neighbor.  It  is  the  highest  proof  that  we  love  God,  and  no  man  can 
say  that  he  knows  him,  or  that  he  loves  God,  unless  he  in  reality  loves  his 
neighbor  as  himself.  There  is  no  higher  obligation  that  can  possibly  be  laid 
upon  man  than  this.  It  is  the  most  searching  test  of  character.  Our  Lord 
said  (John  13:35),  "By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye 
have  love  one  to  another."  And  he  understood  perfectly  that  no  man  had  the 
ability  to  do  the  thing  unless  he  had  learned  to  do  it  from  Christ. 

This  love  for  one's  neighbor  is  the  greatest  heart-throb  of  missions.  No  mis- 
sionary has  a  harder  task  than  to  convince  the  heathen  people  to  whom  he 
goes,  than  to  convince  them  that  he  really  loves  them.  Their  question  always 
is,  "What  selfish  motive  must  have  led  you  to  come  here  and  say  these  things 
to  us  ?"  Their  explanation  was  that  we  were  hired  agents  of  the  government, 
or  had  some  idea  of  gain  that  they  knew  nothing  about.  They  were  convinced 
that  we  had  some  selfish  motive  in  coming  out  to  them. 

"By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  to 
another."  And  no  man  can  have  the  true  spirit  of  missions  unless  he  has  love 
for  his  fellow-man. 

"We  know  we  have  passed  from  death  imto  life  because  we  love" — and  no 
man  can  know  it  who  does  not  love.  In  that  passage  from  John's  great  epistle 
we  come  to  the  very  heart  of  the  matter.  One  reason  why  so  many  workers  in 
our  churches  do  not  accomplish  more  in  the  service  of  God  is  that  they  do  not 
know  they  have  passed  from  death  unto  life.  They  do  not  know  him  who  is 
Love.  "Hereby  we  know  that  we  know  him,  when  we  keep  his  command- 
ments." But  the  first  of  his  commandments  is  this,  "Thou  shalt  love  God 
supremely,"  and  as  a  proof  that  you  do  so  love  God,  you  must  show  it  by  the 
love  you  show  to  your  neighbor;  and  unless  we  keep  this  commandment  we 
cannot  know  that  we  know  him  who  is  life,  and  love  incarnate. 

It  is  the  final  principle  of  judgment  by  which  all  of  us  are  to  be  judged  for 
eternity,  and  upon  which  depends  the  approval  of  our  Lord;  whether  we  have 
loved  as  he  loves,  whether  we  have  seen  them  in  need  and  helped  them  as  he 
would  have  done.  It  is  a  terrible  standard,  but  it  is  the  only  right  standard. 
It  is  necessarily  the  right  standard,  because  it  proves  our  compliance  with  the 
first  obligation  laid  on  us  by  our  Lord. 

Of  course  this  must  be  a  love  like  Christ's.  "Even  as  I  have  loved  you" — 
what  man  of  us  can  love  like  that  ?  It  means  that  we  must  love  the  unlovable. 
"God  commended  his  love  toward  us,  in  that,  while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ 
died  for  us."  We  cannot  pick  out  a  few  nice  people  and  love  them  and  fulfill 
this  commandment.  "God  so  loved  the  world" — the  imlovable,  unrighteous, 
degraded  world — ^that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever,  however 
unlovable  they  might  be,  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.  "Even 
as  I  have  loved  you,"  Christ  said.  Only  when  the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad 
in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Spirit  can  we  love  like  that.  Our  Lord  lays  on  us 
the  same  obligation  that  he  lays  on  himself  when  he  tells  us  to  love  our  enemies 
and  to  pray  for  them  who  despitefully  use  us  and  persecute  us. 

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Bible  Conference  Addresses 

Then  there  is  no  one  in  all  the  world  toward  whom  we  are  not  to  show  this 
manner  of  love.  If  we  show  our  love  for  God  by  the  keeping  of  his  command- 
ments, we  are  to  love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves,  and  that  includes  every  one — 
the  most  repulsive  man  or  woman  as  well  as  the  most  attractive,  for  God's  love 
includes  us  all,  and  some  of  us  are  not  particularly  lovable.  Do  we  love  as  he 
loves  ?  Are  we  doing  for  the  world  what  Christ  would  do  ?  Are  we  reincar- 
nating his  love,  and  having  the  same  kind  of  passion  for  the  lost  that  he  had? 
It  is  written  of  him  that  "when  he  saw  the  multitude,  he  was  moved  with 
compassion  toward  them,  because  they  were  scattered  as  sheep  without  a  shep- 
herd." This  love  which  he  told  us  to  have  toward  our  fellow-men  will  lead  us 
to  weep  over  them  who  are  rejecting  him. 

Doctor  Gordon  said  he  was  praying  the  Lord  Jesus  to  have  compassion  on 
a  lost  world,  and  he  spoke  to  his  conscience,  "I  have  had  compassion  for  a  lost 
world,  and  it  is  now  for  you  to  have  a  passion  for  them.  I  have  given  my 
heart's  blood  for  them ;  give  your  heart  to  them  and  let  them  know  of  my  love. 
I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me."  He  can  be  lifted  up  only  as 
you  and  I  do  it  in  our  lives. 

Next  I  want  to  speak  of  the  law  of  service.  A  love  that  does  not  serve  can- 
not be  the  genuine  article.  "By  love  serve  one  another."  This  is  the  great 
divine  command.  In  the  passages  that  were  read  to-night,  it  was  a  love  that 
served;  that  described  the  kind  of  love — a  love  that  will  not  be  satisfied  unless 
it  can  be  expressed  by  some  service.  "I  am  among  you  as  he  that  serveth." 
"The  Son  of  man  came,  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister."  We  have 
got  some  multi-millionaires  in  some  of  our  churches,  whose  hearts'  ambition 
seems  to  be  to  do  nothing.  I  can  think  of  nobody  they  remind  me  of  so  much 
as  certain  barbarians  we  saw  in  Africa.  These  barbarians  ranked  in  influence 
and  importance  according  to  the  number  of  wives  they  possessed,  and  they 
made  their  women  do  the  work,  and  they  luxuriously  rested.  There  are  some 
aristocratic  barbarians  in  our  own  time.  The  Bible  says,  "Six  days  shalt  thou 
labor,  and  do  all  thy  work,  but  the  seventh  day  is  the  sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy 
God."  The  first  part,  telling  us  to  work  six  days  in  the  week,  is  quite  as  im- 
portant as  the  last  part,  which  tells  us  to  "remember  the  seventh  day  to  keep  it 
holy."  I  wish  there  was  some  way  of  enforcing  that  everywhere.  God  did  not 
intend  work  to  be  a  curse  to  man ;  it  is  a  blessing.  "He  that  provideth  not  for 
his  own  household  hath  denied  the  faith  and  is  worse  than  an  infidel."  "Let 
him  that  stole,  steal  no  more,  but  rather  let  him  labor,  working  with  his  hands 
the  thing  that  is  good,  that  he  may  have  to  give  to  him  that  needeth." 

The  idler  is  not  a  factor  in  the  work  of  the  world ;  he  is  not  a  part  of  God's 
plan.  He  is  a  cumberer  of  the  ground.  It  is  a  law  of  nature  that  that  which 
lias  no  function — has  no  work  to  do — comes  to  naught.  In  the  very  nature  of 
things  it  nuist  die,  for  it  has  no  part  to  fulfill;  it  has  no  work  to  do.  In  the 
eternal  fitness  of  things,  the  idler  must  die.  And  let  me  say  it  is  not  merely 
physical  death  I  am  taUiing  about,  either.  He  dies  spiritually  and  intellec- 
tually and  socially,  and  all  these  have  their  effect  upon  his  body  also.  There 
are  many  dead  people  walking  the  streets  of  our  cities  to-day,  because  they  are 
idlers.  We  want  no  idlers  here.  God  wants  no  idlers  in  this  world  of  his. 
Work  is  not  a  curse,  but  a  blessing.  God  has  been  working  all  through  the 
centuries,  and  he  expects  that  we,  too,  shall  work ;  the  work  he  has  for  us  is  in 


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service  to  our  fellow-men.  In  Ephesiaiis  2:10  wq  have  it  clearly  laid  down 
that  God  has  a  definite  plan  as  to  what  every  one  of  us  is  to  do.  "We  are  his 
workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works."  I  want  to  make  it 
very  plain  that  God  has  prepared  a  work  for  every  one  of  us;  that  God  has 
as  clear  and  definite  a  plan  for  your  life  and  my  life  as  he  had  for  the  life  of 
Christ;  that  he  has  as  specific  a  work  for  us  to  do  as  he  had  for  his  own  Son 
to  do;  that  your  work  and  my  work  was  prepared  for  us  before  we  came  into 
the  world.  It  is  a  work  we  are  able  to  do,  because  it  is  "prepared"  for  us.  God 
intends  us  to  be  busy;  we  are  to  be  "always  abounding-  in  the  work  of  the 
Lord." 

It  is  not  possible  for  us  to  do  more  than  God  has  planned.  Hence  we  can- 
not put  the  burden  on  another,  nor  can  we  do  another's  work.  If  any  of  us 
fail  to  do  the  work  God  has  prepared  for  us,  that  work  goes  undone,  and  we 
must  meet  God  and  give  him  an  account  as  to  why  we  have  not  done  the  work 
he  had  prepared  for  us  to  do. 

If  men  would  but  do  the  work  assigned  them,  they  would  be  not  only  one 
with  Christ  Jesus,  but  they  also  would  be  on  an  equality  with  God.  "He 
took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant."  The  spirit  of  his  life  was  the  spirit  of 
doing  God  service.  "I  am  among  you  as  he  that  serveth."  "The  Son  of  man 
came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom 
for  many."  "I  must  work  the  works  of  him  that  sent  me  while  it  is  day;  the 
night  Cometh  when  no  man  can  work."  And  when  he  was  among  the  people 
and  he  was  so  occupied  that  he  could  not  eat,  his  friends  sought  to  lay  hold  on 
him,  saying,  "He  is  beside  himself,"  and  we  hear  him  say,  "My  Father  worketh 
hitherto,  and  I  work."  And  at  the  close  of  his  life  he  was  able  to  say,  "Father, 
I  have  kept  in  thy  name  those  whom  thou  hast  given  me;"  "I  have  given 
them  thy  word;"  "I  have  finished  the  work  which  thou  gavest  me  to  do."  Is 
that  our  highest  ambition  liere  to-night  ?  Service  is  the  only  measure  of 
greatness  recognized  in  the  Word  of  God.  "Let  him  that  would  be  great 
among  you  be  your  servant,"  and  let  ns  remember  that  our  Lord  measured  his 
own  life  by  the  same  divine  standard,  for  he  said,  "The  Son  of  man  came  not 
to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many." 

I  said  awhile  ago  that  on  the  Congo,  a  man  ranks  according  to  the  number 
of  wives  he  possesses.  That  is  the  barbarian  standard  of  greatness.  We  are 
more  civilized,  and  among  ns  a  man  often  ranks  according  to  the  amount  of 
money  he  possesses.  We  have  a  great  many  millionaire  barbarians.  "A  man's 
life  consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  things  that  he  possesseth."  The  only 
rank  that  counts  in  the  kingdom  of  God  is  helpfulness  to  our  brother — neigh- 
borliness.    It  is  the  privilege  of  our  life  to  see  how  much  we  can  serve. 

The  third  law  is  the  law  of  sacrifice.  I  would  not  dare  to  mention  this  as 
one  of  the  supreme  tests  of  life  if  it  were  not  in  the  word  of  our  Lord  himself, 
"If  any  man  will  be  my  disciple,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross 
daily  and  follow  me."  That  is  our  high  call  to  the  life  of  sacrifice,  which 
Jesus  Christ  made  possible  for  vis  to  live  through  him.  It  is  impossible  in  our 
own  strength;  we  cannot  do  it  ourselves.  "Without  me  ye  can  do  nothing;" 
"I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ  who  strengtheneth  me;"  "Whosoever  he 
be  of  you  that  forsaketh  not  all  that  he  hath,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple;" 
"Whosoever  shall  save  his  life  shall  lose  it :  whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  for 


Bible  Conference  Addresses 

my  sake  shall  find  it;"  "Except  a  corn  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and  die, 
it  abideth  alone;  but  if  it  die,  it  bringeth  forth  much  fruit." 

I  suppose  this  spirit  was  never  better  illustrated  than  in  the  life  of  Paul. 
How  did  he  regard  this  law  of  sacrifice  ?  "I  am  crucified  with  Christ :  never- 
theless I  live,  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me;"  "For  me  to  live  is  Christ, 
and  to  die  is  gain;"  "Because  we  thus  judge,  that  if  one  died  for  all,  then 
were  all  dead :  and  that  he  died  for  all,  that  they  which  live  should  not  hence- 
forth live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  him  which  died  for  them,  and  rose  again." 
Likewise  in  his  teachings  as  to  how  those  who  are  thus  redeemed  should  live, 
he  leaves  no  room  for  question :  "Glorify  God  therefore  in  your  body  and 
spirit,  which  are  God's;"  "T  beseech  you  therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of 
God,  that  ye  present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  unto  God, 
which  is  your  reasonable  service."  I  wish  we  could  see  more  plainly  the 
reasonableness  of  it.  I  wish  we  could  get  away  from  the  formal  way  we  do 
things  and  do  it  as  unto  the  Lord,  knowing  it  is  a  reasonable  service.  When 
we  get  to  that  i:)lace,  then  we  are  going  to  do  all  the  work  we  can,  in  the  very 
best  way  we  can,  because  we  are  conscious  that  it  is  the  work  that  was  planned 
for  each  one  of  us  to  do,  and  we  will  live  absolutely  under  the  Lordship  of 
Jesus  Christ,  doing  as  he  did,  living  a  life  of  daily  sacrifice,  to  the  glory  of 
God,  serving  our  fcllow-mon. 

I  would  that  we  could  rightly  realize  how  much  this  law  of  sacrifice  is  a 
part  of  that  first  great  commandment  of  Christ.  "God  so  loved  the  world 
that  he  gave  himself."  "LTereby  know  we  love,  because  he  laid  do\vn  his  life 
for  us,  and  we  ought  to  lay  down  our  lives  for  the  brethren.""  It  cost  God  a 
great  deal  to  make  salvation  possible.  It  is  going  to  cost  us  something  to 
make  it  applicable  to  the  world.  If  we  think  it  is  not  worth  while,  and  per- 
fectly feasible,  we  make  a  great  mistake.  "God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he 
gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish, 
but  have  everlasting  life."  "He  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him 
up  freely  for  us  all."  "We  ought  to  lay  down  our  life  for  the  brethren."  In 
this  connection,  I  want  to  relate  the  story  of  an  African  girl,  as  told  by  a 
missionary  pastor  of  the  London  Missionary  Society. 

In  the  native  church  they  do  not  celebrate  the  Christmas  season  with  the 
giving  of  gifts  among  themselves,  but  by  bringing  to  our  Lord  an  offering  on 
his  birthday.  It  was  at  this  service  of  free-will  offering  that  the  people  passed 
before  their  pastor  and  deposited  their  gifts.  Among  them  came  a  young  girl 
who  drew  from  her  tattered,  garment  a  silver  coin  worth  about  eighty-five 
cents — a  fortune  to  a  woman  of  her  class.  The  missionary  was  much  sur- 
prised, but,  not  wishing  to  interrupt  the  service,  waited  imtil'the  close,  when 
he  called  her  aside  and  asked  whence  she  secured  so  nuich  money.  She  ex- 
plained that  because  she  loved  her  Savior  and  desired  to  give  him  a  worthy 
gift  on  his  birthday,  she  had  gone  to  a  neighboring  planter  and  sold  herself 
to  be  his  slave  all  the  rest  of  her  life,  and  had  brought  the  equivalent  of  her 
life  of  service  as  an  offering  for  her  King. 

When  we  have  the  same  spirit  as  this  poor  slave  girl,  when  the  church  is 
surcharged  with  the  spirit  of  self-abandonment  and  fired  with  an  ambition 
for  the  accomplishment  of  that  for  which  Christ  came  down  from  heaven  to 
earth  and  gave  his  life  to  make  possible,  I  say  to  you  men  there  is  little  chance 
of  it  not  getting  done. 

9 


Union  Biblical  Seminary 

I  want  to  ask  you  to  look  at  William  Carey;  he  was  so  embarrassed  about 
spending  his  salary  on  himself  that  he  tried  to  see  how  much  he  could  give  to 
God.  He  found  he  could  live  on  one-half  of  what  he  got  and  he  gave  the  rest 
to  God  for  the  salvation  of  his  fellow-men.  "When  his  salary  was  increased  to 
$7,500  per  year,  he  continued  to  live  on  the  petty  amount  he  had  learned  to 
spend  on  himself,  some  $250  I  think  it  was,  and  he  gave  the  remainder  to  God, 
and  at  the  close  of  his  life  he  had  been  able  to  turn  back  into  the  treasury  of 
God  $200,000  as  a  result  of  his  service  in  India.  It  was  the  spirit  of  Christ, 
who  gave  himself  for  the  salvation  of  the  world,  that  enabled  him  to  do  it. 

John  G.  Paton,  whose  life  you  have  read,  has  had  a  very  wonderful  sale  of 
his  book.  About  $100,000  profit  has  come  from  the  sale  of  that  book.  He  has 
turned  it  all  into  the  Lord's  treasury  and  has  gone  back  to  give  his  remaining 
days  to  the  service  of  God  among  the  people  of  the  New  Hebrides.  Years  ago 
he  abandoned  himself  to  the  will  of  God,  for  the  salvation  of  the  cannibals  of 
these  islands,  and  God  has  given  him  to  see  the  people  clothed  and  in  their 
right  minds. 

When  we  were  in  Calcutta,  we  received  a  contrilmtion  from  a  lady,  amount- 
ing to  $25.00,  and  we  thought  she  must  be  a  very  rich  lady,  and  after  a  while 
we  wrote  her  that  the  work  was  going  on,  told  her  some  experiences  of  our 
work  there,  and  suggested  another  contribution.  At  length  an  answer  came 
to  us,  written  in  a  poor,  trembling  hand  on  an  old  piece  of  paper,  saying  she 
could  not  send  us  another  twenty-five  dollars;  it  represented  the  savings  of 
years.  "I  am  only  a  poor  old  woman,"  she  said,  "and  I  bake  pies  and  cakes 
and  sell  them  to  make  a  living.  Since  sending  you  that  twenty-five  dollars  I 
have  only  been  able  to  save  ten  dollars.  I  gladly  send  you  that,  and  I  wish 
I  could  have  saved  more.  I  must  pray  that  others  will  supply  the  need."  She 
had  given  in  one  offering  to  God  the  result  of  years'  saving. 

When  I  returned  to  this  country  I  happened  to  pass  through  the  city  and 
thought  I  would  look  up  the  old  lady.  She  was  too  weak  to  bake  pies  and 
cakes  and  sell  them  any  longer,  and  she  had  gone  to  an  old  ladies'  home,  for 
she  had  saved  nothing  for  herself.  A  hundred  years  from  now  do  you  think 
she  will  regret  the  sacrifice  she  made  for  the  people  of  India  ?  In  the  presence 
of  her  Lord,  when  she  sees  the  redeemed  ones  of  India,  do  you  imagine  she  will 
regret  for  one  minute  her  sacrifice  here  on  earth  ? 

God  wants  our  best.  He  has  a  fair  and  just  claim  on  the  first  fruits  of  our 
increase.  In  proportion  as  we  obey  that  first  and  great  commandment  of  our 
Lord  to  love  God  supremely  and  our  neighbor  as  ourself,  we  will  want  to  give 
God  the  best — we  will  give  ourselves  for  the  world  even  as  he  loved  us  and 
gave  himself  for  us.  Oh,  friends,  let  us  remember  how  once  our  Lord  poured 
out  his  soul  for  us,  and  in  the  prime  of  his  mysterious  manhood  gave  his 
precious  life  upon  the  cross,  daring  to  give  us  the  best  that  he  had. 

Immediately  following  the  address  by  Mr.  White,  Dr.  O.  P.  Gifford  gave  an 
outline  of  the  duty  of  tithing  as  based  on  the  Scriptural  law. 


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Bible  Conference  Addresses 


ifritiap  OPorning. 


Prayer. 

O  God,  our  Father,  we  thanl?  thee  for  what  thou  hast  set  before  us  as  pos- 
sible in  thy  name.  We  thank  thee  that  we  can  do  what  thou  dost  command  us 
to  do,  and  that  we  dare  not  do  less  and  even  profess  to  be  loyal  to  thee.  We 
thank  thee  that  thy  people  are  free-will  offerings  in  the  day  of  thy  power,  and 
that  the  day  of  thy  power  has  come  when  they  are  free-will  offerings  in  thy 
hand.  Lord,  make  every  life  here  to-day  by  its  own  glad  choice  a  free-will 
offering  to  thee;  and  with  our  lives  may  we  give  our  children  and  our  posses- 
sions and  our  influence  and  our  all;  change  the  world  through  us  to  God,  We 
thank  thee  that  thou  hast,  and  that  thou  wilt  if  we  will  let  thee  do  it,_save  us 
from  our  narrow,  mean,  selfish  purposes,  when  the  world  waits  a  setting  free 
that  can  only  come  as  we  go  out  with  the  message,  which  our  Lord  has  com- 
missioned us  to  carry  to  all  the  world.  We  thank  thee  that  the  world  is  re- 
deemed so  far  as  Christ  can  do  it;  his  sacrifice  is  complete.  Oh,  help  us  to 
make  known  this  redemption,  and  may  we  live  for  this  as  the  most  command- 
ing thing  to  live  for,  and  wherever  our  residence  is,  and  whatever  our  occupa- 
tion is,  may  our  identification  Avith  Christ  be  such  that  we  shall  live  to  accom- 
plish his  purpose  with  our  whole  heart.  Use  mightily  this  class  of  young  men 
who  are  going  out  into  leadership  in  thy  service.  Save  any  one  of  them  from 
living  for  any  personal  ambition.  Grant  that  every  one  of  them  may  be  will- 
ing to  go  anywhere  in  the  world  for  thee,  and  may  they  follow  thy  leadership 
into  the  field  which  thou  wilt  mark  out  for  them,  and  give  us  every  one, 
whether  ministers  or  laymen,  or  women  or  children,  give  us  every  one  the 
spirit  of  obedience  to  our  Lord  and  of  sjTiipathy  with  him  and  of  likeness  to 
him  that  will  make  it  impossible  for  us  to  work  without  seeing  how  much  we 
can  do  to  change  these  conditions  of  dire  distress  and  inexplicable  need.  For- 
give us,  we  pray  thee,  that  we  have  done  so  little  in  view  of  our  opportunities, 
that  we  have  prayed  so  little  when  prayer  might  have  accomplished  so  much ; 
that  we  have  sacrificed  so  little  when  our  Lord  has  sacrificed  all ;  and  grant  us 
this  day  a  touch  of  his  life  upon  iis  that  will  make  us  henceforth  more  com- 
pletely like  him.    We  ask  it  for  his  name's  sake.    Amen. 

Opening  Address  by  J.  Campbell  White. 

Bible  Conference,  to  be  true  to  its  name,  is  meant  to  partake  largely  of  the 
conference  feature,  and  I  think   all  great  assemblies  ought  to  have  a  good 

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Union  Bihlical  Seminary 

deal  of  this  feature  in  order  to  realize  the  largest  profit  from  such  meetings; 
and  our  plan,  beginning  with  this  morning's  session,  after  one  address,  is  to 
have  time  for  questions  or  discussions  from  the  floor.  After  Doctor  Gifford 
speaks  to  us  this  morning  on  the  great  divine  law  of  Christian  giving,  we 
want  any  of  you  who  are  here  to  endorse  what  he  says  briefly,  if  yovi  feel  like 
it,  or  ask  any  one  in  the  audience  anything  that  will  throw  light  on  the  sub- 
ject. The  permanent  value  of  these  meetings  will  depend  very  largely  on 
these  conference  features,  and  I  do  hope  we  will  set  aside  any  spirit  of  hesita- 
tion that  may  naturally  take  possession  of  us  and  overcome  it,  so  that  we  may 
all  help  each  other.  Those  coming  out  of  the  city  have  not  come  with  the 
attitude  of  knowing  everything,  but  that  we  believe  we  know  some  things. 
But  there  will  he  a  much  more  permanent  value  to  these  meetings  if  we  ex- 
press the  convictions  we  have  concerning  the  discussions  along  which  we  are 
led.  I  am  sure  you  will  listen  very  prayerfully  to  what  Doctor  GIfford  has  to 
say  about  "Tithing  a  Christian  Duty." 

<*^ 

Address  by  Doctor  Gifford. 

TITHING  A  CHEISTIAN  DVTY.— Hebrews  7. 

Any  system  is  better  than  no  system;  the  best  system  is  none  too  good.  The 
good  is  evermore  the  enemy  of  the  better ;  the  better  is  the  worst  enemy  of  the 
best.  The  constant  danger  is,  of  arrested  development.  "Remember  Lot's 
wife" ;  she  lost  what  she  had  by  not  going  on  to  get  what  she  ought.  Terah 
and  Abraham  started  out  of  Ur  of  the  Chaldees.  "And  they  came  to  Haran 
and  dwelt  there.  And  Terah  died  in  ITai-an."  But  not  until  he  had  begotten 
sons,  many  of  whose  descendants  are  with  us  in  church  life  to-day,  men  who 
start  for  the  God-built  city,  but  tarry  in  Ilaran.  When  the  Holy  Spirit 
brooded  over  chaos,  division  preceded  evolution,  water  from  water,  life  from 
death,  low  forms  of  life  at  first,  then  higher;  first  monkey,  then  man.  But 
why,  when  yovi  have  come  so  far  as  the  monkey,  stop,  get  a  cage,  open  a  mu- 
seum, and  refuse  to  go  farther?  What  was  good  enoxigh  in  the  past  tense  of 
the  verb  of  life  is  not  good  enough  in  the  present  tense. 

We  believe  in  foreordination,  but  what  is  the  use  of  being  foreordained  if 
we  do  not  foreordain  in  turn?  Man  is  not  the  end  of  God's  plan;  he. seeks  to 
work  through  tis,  as  well  as  up  to  its. 

SYSTEM,   NOT   SPASM,    IS    OOD's    METHOD. 

New  Hampshire  has  developed  two  sorts  of  Baptists,  Calvinistic  and  Free 
Will.  Dr.  A.  J.  Gordon's  father  used  to  say  he  could  tell  one  from  the  other 
by  seeing  their  wood-piles.  "Work  out  your  own  salvation  with  fear  and 
trembling,  for  it  is  God  who  worketh  in  you  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good 
pleasure,"  and  his  good  pleasure  is  systematic  in  you  as  well  as  outside  you. 
The  Bible  is  our  law  of  life  until  he  repeals  it  and  inspires  another,  and  the 
Bible  teaches  the  best  system  of  giving  to  him. 

When  the  tide  is  at  flood  the  sea  seeks  and  fills  all  open  bays,  harbors,  inlets, 
and  forces  the  water  back  up  the  channels  of  the  rivers.  When  a  great  truth 
floods  the  mind  it  fills  all  the  forms  of  expression  and  molds  of  thought.     The 

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Bible  Conference  Addresses 

mind  of  Christ  was  an  open  seaboard  to  the  tital  movement  of  one  great 
truth;  the  kingdom  of  God.  He  saw  what  was  in  his  mind;  when  he  saw  a 
woman  setting  a  patch  on  a  garment,  mixing  leaven  with  meal,  pouring  new 
wine  into  old  wine-skins,  he  saw  the  kingdom  of  God.  When  he  saw  a  man 
lifting  a  net  filled  with  fish,  sowing  seed  by  the  wayside,  giving  a  feast,  he  saw 
the  kingdom  of  God.  As  the  sunlight  glorifies  the  windows  in  the  church,  so 
the  great  truth  of  the  kingdom  glorified  the  common  things  of  life. 

After  the  ascension,  and  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Apostles  began  to 
preach,  but  they  preached  the  King.  In  Jerusalem,  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost, 
in  Antioch,  on  Mars'  Hill,  in  synagogue  or  public  square,  they  preached  the 
King.  When  a  conquered  province  swears  allegiance  to  the  king,  it  accepts 
the  law,  institutions,  and  will  that  make  the  kingdom.  When  the  world  swears 
allegiance  to  Christ  as  King,  the  kingdom  has  come.  When  the  King  con- 
quered Greece,  Pan  died.  Wlien  the  king  entered  the  Roman  Pantheon  other 
gods  fled.  When  Christ  was  accepted  by  the  Jews  as  Messiah,  their  great  men 
faded  from  sight  as  the  stars  fade  when  the  svm  rises. 

Moses  was  the  great  man  in  Hebrew  thought.  As  Pharaoh's  daughter  lifted 
the  babe  from  the  Nile  and  gave  him  to  Egyptian  culture,  so  Moses  lifted 
Israel  from  slavery,  and  gave  them  to  liberty.  Moses  gave  the  law,  religion, 
literature  to  Israel.  But  Moses  was  only  a  servant,  Christ  was  the  son:  "the 
servant  abideth  not  forever,  the  son  abideth  ever."  Side  by  side  with  Moses 
stood  Aaron  the  high  priest,  but  Christ  was  High  Priest  forever  after  the 
power  of  an  endless  life,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah.  Back  of  Moses  and  Aaron 
stood  Abraham.  Back  of  the  Niagara  River  is  Lake  Erie,  but  back  of  Erie  the 
lake  system  and  the  draining  of  the  great  Northwest.  Back  of  Moses  and 
Aaron  was  Abraham,  the  friend  of  God,  the  father  of  the  children  of  Israel. 
"The  law  came  by  Moses,"  but  life  came  from  Abraham.  The  Hebrew's  high- 
est boast  was,  "Abraham  is  my  father,"  his  fondest  hope  to  rest  in  Abraham's 
bosom. 

ABRAHAM    LIVED    BY    FAITH. 

The  law  bracketed  the  national  life  for  a  time,  but  true  life  is  by  faith. 

Abraham  and  Lot  got  along  nicely  together  so  long  as  they  were  poor. 
Riches  divide.  Two  poor  men  can  live  in  one  room.  Each  rich  man  wants  ^ 
suite  of  rooms,  and  if  he  is  very  rich,  a  whole  house  to  himself.  Wealth  is 
centrifugal,  poverty  centripetal.  Money  pushes  men  apart,  poverty  binds  men 
together.  Abraham  gave  Lot  the  first  choice.  Once  at  least  in  the  light  of 
history,  the  senior  partner  gave  the  junior  partner  the  first  choice.  Lot  chose 
foolishly,  thinking  only  of  a  pasturage  for  his  flocks,  and  a  market  for  his 
fleece  and  mutton.  He  was  attacked,  carried  away  into  captivity,  bankrupted. 
Abraham  came  to  his  rescue,  saved  Lot,  and  spoiled  the  kings.  On  his  way 
back  to  Hebron  he  passed  Jerusalem;  there  he  met  his  master,  Melchizedek, 
"Priest  of  the  Most  High  God."  The  Jews  emphasize  ancestry,  think  much  of 
heredity.  Our  family  trees  compared  with  theirs  are  bushes  to  banyan  trees, 
gourds  to  century  oaks.  Our  Daughters  of  the  Revolution,  or  Descendants 
of  the  Pilgrims,  are  children  compared  to  centenarians.  We  drink  filtered 
water,  the  Jews  boast  of  filtered  blood,  rich  and  clear  through  the  centuries. 
But  Melchizedek  had  no  coat  of  arms,  no  ancestry,  no  heredity.  "Without  be- 
ginning of  years  or  ending  of  days,  a  priest  forever."     Yet  Abraham  paid, 

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Union  Biblical  Seminary 

tithes  to  him.  "Christ  is  a  priest  forever  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek." 
He  is  not  in  the  line  of  Aaron,  of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  but  of  the  tribe  of  Judah, 
after  the  order  of  Melchizedek.  "Here  men  that  die  receive  tithes,  but  there 
he  receiveth  them,  of  whom  it  is  witnessed  that  he  liveth." 

We  believe  that  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  was  ivritten  by  inspiration,  and 
the  Holy  Spirit  puts  the  tithe  on  the  ground  that  Christ  is  our  High  Priest, 
not  after  the  order  of  Aaron,  but  of  Melchizedek,  grounding  it  not  in  the  law, 
but  in  the  life  of  faith. 

Ever  and  again  I  meet  a  man  who  rebels  against  the  tithe  because  it  was 
part  of  a  legal  system;  who  says,  "I  am  not  imder  law."  That  is  just  the 
trouble  with  a  large  criminal  class  in  the  United  States  today,  some  poor,  some 
rich,  they  are  not  under  law.  Do  not,  I  pray  you,  class  yourselves  with  such, 
lest  a  policeman  put  you  where  you  can  break  the  law  in  thought,  but  not  in 
act!  When  the  Eoman  soldier  found  that  Paul  was  a  Roman  he  said,  "At 
great  price  got  I  this  liberty."  Liberty  to  do  what?  Obey  law.  And  Paul 
said,  "I  was  freeborn."    Free  to  do  what? 

FREEDOM  IS  THE  FRUIT  OP  LAW, 

and  carries  in  its  heart  a  seed  that  builds  a  new  body  in  conformity  with  law. 
The  trouble  is,  that  there  are  altogether  too  many  members  of  oar  churches 
who  are  not  under  law,  who  mistake  liberty  for  license,  who  feel  no  sense  of 
obligation  to  perform  duty.  There  is  not  a  tree  of  the  forest,  a  bird  of  the 
air,  a  fish  in  the  sea,  not  under  law.  The  Christian  is  under  the  law  of  life  in 
Christ  Jesus,  and  Christ  is  our  High  Priest,  and  we  owe  him  a  tithe  of  our 
possessions.     Do  not  mistake. 

Law  does  not  create  duties,  laiv  recognizes  duties,  regulates  duties,  enforces 
duties. 

Duties  grow  out  of  the  nature  of  things.  To  be  is  to  be  in  relation;  to  be 
in  relation  is  to  have  duties ;  and  law  recognizes  duties  and  seeks  to  regulate 
relations.  When  Robinson  Crusoe  was  alone  on  the  island  he  had  no  duties 
to  his  fellows,  except  to  keep  himself  so  that  when  fellows  might  come  he  could 
bless  and  not  curse.  When  he  found  Friday,  relations  commenced,  duties  be- 
gan. He  was  under  law  to  recognize  relations,  and  do  duties.  Laws  passed  at 
Washington  that  are  not  based  on  the  nature  of  things  sink  into  innocuous 
desuetude,  are  neglected,  or  replaced.  The  law,  given  by  Moses,  endures  be- 
cause it  deals  with  relations  that  are  real,  and  enforces  duties  that  are  natural. 

The  law  of  Moses  did  hot  create  relations,  nor  duties.  "Thou  shalt  not 
commit  adultery."  Was  it  right  to  commit  adultery  before  Moses  gave  the 
law  ?  Is  it  right  for  those  who  never  heard  the  law  ?  Are  you  under  the  law  ? 
Vegetable  and  animal  life  depend  upon  water.  Water  is  formed  of  two  gases, 
hydrogen  and  oxygen.  To  divorce  these  is  to  destroy  life.  The  state  depends 
for  its  stability  upon  the  family.  The  destruction  of  the  family  is  the  disin- 
tegration of  the  state.  Adultery  destroys  the  family  and  the  state,  poisons 
the  stream  of  national  life  at  its  source,  reverses  the  miracle  of  Elisha  with 
the  fount  of  Jericho,  and  kills.  An  adulterous  family  is  a  doomed  state.  The 
law  simply  states  a  principle,  enforces  a  duty,  creates  neither. 

"Thou  shalt  not  kill."  Murder  was  not  made  a  crime  by  stating  a  law.  Cain 
was  a  criminal  long  before  Moses  was  born.    You  cannot  cut  the  threads  and 

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Bible  Conference  Addresses 

preserve  the  web.  You  cannot  keep  the  state  and  murder  the  citizens.  Family 
life  must  be  pure,  and  individual  life  sacred.  "Thou  shalt  not  steal."  Prop- 
erty rights  must  he  respected,  or  there  can  be  no  trade,  and  Mathout  trade 
there  can  be  no  civilization.  Men  will  not  produce  unless  they  can  preserve. 
Peril  to  property  breeds  improvidence.  Theft  does  not  become  a  crime  when 
law  forbids  it;  it  is  recognized  as  a  crime  by  law. 

"Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against  thy  neighbor."  "A  good  name  is 
rather  to  be  chosen  than  great  riches,"  but  you  must  not  choose  your  neigh- 
bor's good  name. 

"Good  name,  in  man  or  woman,  dear  my  lord. 
Is  the  immediate  jewel  of  their  souls : 

Who  steals  my  purse  steals  trash;  't  is  something,  nothing; 
'T  was  mine,  't  is  his,  and  has  been  slave  to  thousands ; 
But  he  that  filches  from  me  my  good  name 
Robs  me  of  that  which  not  enriches  him 
And  makes  me  poor  indeed." 

The  stealer  of  money  can  be  caught  and  restitution  made,  but  who  shall 
catch  and  secure  restitution  of  a  good  name  filched  ?  Money  I  can  earn  again, 
but  where  a  good  name?    But  slander  was  not  made  a  crime  by  the  law. 

"Thou  shalt  not  covet."  That  spirit  wrongs  the  man  who  sins  more  than  to 
steal.  I  am  no  poorer  because  you  covet  my  estate,  and  you  are  no  richer,  but 
covetousness  hath  eaten  out  of  your  soul  like  moth  in  a  garment,  and  the 
treasure  you  have  is  lost.  You  cannot  enjoy  what  you  have  while  you  covet 
what  I  have.  Covetousness  is  soul  suicide.  It  was  just  as  silly  and  wrong 
before  Moses  spoke  as  after.     So  of  all  the  law. 

The  law  does  not  make  the  road,  any  more  than  the  guide-hoard  does,  hut  it 
does  tell  where  to  go,  and  where  not. 

_  The  law  accepted  the  tithe,  did  not  create  it,  wove  it  into  the  web  of  national 
life.  If  you  refuse  to  tithe  because  Moses  commanded  Israel  to  tithe,  then  be 
logical  and  see  how  long  the  modern  state  will  respect  your  position.  The  fact 
that  so  wise  a  man  as  Moses  embodied  the  tithe  in  his  system  commends  it  to 
me.  He  was  not  of  the  kind  that  can  see  no  good  except  he  has  created  it,  and 
.cares  more  for  freedom  than  for  success. 
The  prophet  enforces  the  tithe. 

Malachi  insists  that  men  who  do  not  pay  tithes  do  steal,  that  men  who  are 
ahove  ohedience  to  law  are  heloiv  the  level  of  honest  men. 

Christ  commends  the  tithe.  Abraham  gave  tithes;  Moses  commanded  tith- 
ing; Christ  commended  tithing.  What  Christ  commends  is  my  command.  He 
looked  into  the  faces  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  and  said,  "Ye  pay  tithes  of 
mint,  and  anise,  and  cummin,  and  have  omitted  the  weightier  matters  of  the 
law,  judgment,  mercy,  and  faith ;  these  ought  ye  to  have  done,  and  not  to  leave 
the  other  undone."  The  Pharisees  had  no  right  to  compromise  with  duties,  to 
do  one  set  and  leave  the  other  set  undone.  We  are  in  danger  of  m.oral  bank- 
ruptcy, of  seeking  to  compromise  with  God  for  fifty  per  cent.  We  should  not 
commend  the  man  who  tithes  and  omits  the  weightier  matters,  nor  the  man 
who  attends_  to  the  weightier  matters  and  omits  the  tithe.  Both  are  commanded. 
The  earth  yields  crops  of  two  sorts,  root  and  top  crops.    We  eat  the  roots  and 

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Union  Biblical  Se'minary 

reject  the  tops,  or  eat  the  tops  and  reject  the  roots.  No  one  cares  for  the  top 
of  a  turnip,  nor  the  roots  of  a  cabbage.  But  in  dealing  with  the  duties  that 
grow  in  the  garden  of  the  Lord  there  is  no  such'  division.  He  who  breaks  the 
least  commandment  is  guilty  of  the  whole.  You  must  lock  doors  and  bar  win- 
dows if  you  would  sleep  safely.  You  must  tithe  and  obey  the  weightier  matters 
of  the  law  if  you  would  please  the  Lawgiver.  You  do  not  win  the  right  to 
steal  by  keeping  the  Sabbath,  nor  the  right  to  break  the  Sabbath  by  paying 
your  debts. 

Obedience  to  the  tithe  is  as  much  a  part  of  religion  as  judgment,  mercy,  and 
faith. 

The  divorce  court  threatens  the  stability  of  the  state.  Divorced  duties 
threaten  the  church.  "What  God  hath  joined  together  let  no  mail  put  asun- 
der," in  marriage  or  morals.  Immortality  lies  not  so  much  in  the  thing  done, 
as  in  the  motives  for  doing  it.  To  dodge  any  duty  is  to  reveal  a  wrong  spirit, 
and  no  man  knows  what  will  follow  when  the  spirit  is  wrong.  Ye  ought  to 
worship  God,  ye  ought  to  pay  your  debts,  and  the  tithe  is  your  debt  to  God.  Ye 
ought  to  observe  the  ritual  of  religion,  ye  ought  to  be  honest  and  righteous. 
Do  not  make  your  conscience  a  South  Dakota  where  duties  are  divorced. 

But  some  one  says,  "Christ  was  talking  to  Pharisees,  his  words  have  no 
bearing  on  my  case."  If  these  words  of  Christ  have  no  bearing  on  you,  then 
no  words  of  Christ  are  anything  to  you.  All  his  teachings  were  to  the  Jews, 
all  his  promises  were  to  men  we  never  saw. 

If  you  are  going  to  limit  the  application  of  his  ivords  to  the  m-yn  he  spoJce 
to,  you  have  evaporated  the  Christian  religion. 

The  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  promises  of  eternal  life, 
the  pledge  of  the  resurrection,  fall  like  snowflakes  on  a  rapid  river  and  disap- 
pear, like  rain  on  a  desert,  and  are  absorbed. 

CHRIST   TAUGHT   PRINCIPLES   TO   AND   THROUGH    MEX 

as  the  sun  shines  through  these  memorial  windows  and  lifts  the  room  out  of 
darkness.  Your  attitude  is  the  most  dangerous  and  meanest  form  of  higher 
criticism.  We  can  handle  unbelievers'  higher  criticism,  but  the  practical 
atheism  of  professed  Christians  is  the  Judas  kiss  by  Gethsemane.  We  flee 
from  it  and  leave  the  Master  in  the  hands  of  enemies,  with  the  cross  in  sight. 
If  Christians  obey  what  Christ  commands,  the  church  can  defy  the  attacks  of 
enemies.  Achan  in  the  army  was  mightier  than  the  men  of  Ai  when  Joshua 
tried  to  force  the  pass. 

TITHING  IS  SCIENTIFIC,  IT  PAYS  WHEN  TRIED  IN  THE   BUSINESS   IJFE. 

Doctor  Chadwick,  of  Leeds,  England,  tells  us  his  experience  in  dealing  with 
men.  There  were  two  members  of  his  church  v/ho  were  poor;  they  formed  a 
company  to  do  business  together;  both  were  Christians.  John  said  to  Thomas 
and  Thomas  said  to  John:  "Now,  we  will  give  a  certain  per  cent,  of  our 
profits  to  the  Lord."  The  first  year  the  per  cent,  was  small  because  the  profits 
were  small;  it  needed  no  great  effort  to  give  one  cent  out  of  ten  cents,  or  ten 
cents  out  of  a  dollar,  or  one  hundred  out  of  a  thousand ;  but  when  it  came  to 
ten  thousand  dollars  out  of  a  hundred  thousand,  they  felt  the  pinch.  The  tide 
of  prosperity  rolled  in ;  the  second,  third,  and  fourth  years  they  kept  their  vow 

16 


Bible  Conference  Addi'esses 

to  God;  the  fifth  they  said  they  were  giving  too  mvich;  they  would  give  half 
as  much  hereafter;  they  divided  their  tenth  into  half,  gave  one-half,  and  kept 
the  other  half  themselves.  That  year  they  did  not  make  a  payment;  in  the 
second  six  months  they  M'ere  bankrupt.  They  went  to  the  prayer  room,  and 
side  by  side  they  knelt  and  vowed  to  redeem  their  vow  to  the  living  God.  They 
found  that  the  tide  turned  to  prosperity  again. 
But  you  say,  "That  is  bribing  God."    Is  it? 

CAN  YOU  BRIBE  GOD? 

A  bribe  means  a  man  to  buy  and  a  man  to  be  bought.  Can  the  God  you 
worship  be  bribed?  Then  you  had  better  change  gods.  Tithing  is  one  condi- 
tion of  material  prosperity.  Nine-tenths  with  God,  will  go  farther  and  do  more 
than  ten-tenths  without  him.  If  it  is  wrong  to  succeed,  why  try?  If  it  is 
right,  why  not  try  all  ways?  Is  it  bribing  God  to  be  industrious,  economical, 
honest  ?  Is  it  bribing  God  to  pray  for  success  ?  Then  why  is  it  bribing  God 
to  tithe  when  he  has  commanded  that  as  truly  as  economy,  honesty,  prayer? 
The  underlying  fallacy  of  our  daily  life  is  that  certain  hours  belong  to  God, 
and  the  rest  to  us;  certain  duties  belong  to  God  and  the  rest  to  us.  "Seek  ye 
first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,"  always  first  in  time  and  in 
interest. 

7^  is  not  bribing  the  government  to  pay  your  taxes.  It  is  not  bribing  God 
to  pay  your  tithe. 

You  do  not  give  a  tithe,  you  pay  a  tithe.  You  do  not  give  until  you  have 
paid  the  tithe.  Free-will  offerings  come  later,  through  the  open  door  of  the 
tithe.  You  do  not  give  God  the  Sabbath.  He  claims  it.  If  you  wish  to  give 
him  time  out  of  the  other  six  days,  that  is  a  gift.  So  of  the  tithe ;  it  is  God's 
part  of  your  prosperity.  "As  the  Lord  prospers."  But  this  was  written  to  men 
who  had  been  bred  to  tithing  in  Judaism  and  heathenism.  The  proportion  had 
been  set  as  a  mold,  the  time  to  pour  in  the  money  was  declared  to  be  the  first 
day  of  the  week  for  Christians.  The  doing  of  this  duty,  as  of  all  moral  duties, 
has  closest  bearing  on  moral  character,  and  so  on  prosperity. 

Paying  the  tithe  to  God  makes  him  a  silent  partner  in  your  business,  and 
thus  sanctifies  your  whole  business  life.  ■  This  tithe  that  is  due  is  not  the 
maximum,  but  the  minimum;  the  center  of  the  circle,  not  the  circumference; 
but  the  man  v>Jto  has  a  center  is  pretty  apt  to  have  a  circum,ference. 

Marshall  Field  paid  his  taxes  like  an  honest  man ;  he  gave  largely  after- 
ward.    Tax  dodgers  are  not  large  givers. 

Because  you  keep  the  Sabbath,  you  are  not  at  liberty  to  serve  the  devil  the 
other  six  days.  They  are  given  to  you  for  the  doing  of  your  own  work,  not  the 
devil's  work.  Through  the  open  window  of  the  Sabbath  the  light  of  the  up- 
lifted covmtenance  floods  the  other  six  days.  Through  the  tithe  God  smiles 
upon  the  nine-tenths.  You  know  it  pays  to  keep  the  Sabbath  holy.  You  do 
not  bribe  God  by  obedience.  It  is  not  bribing  God  to  pay  the  tithe,  yet  he 
blesses  the  nine-tenths  because  you  pay  your  debt. 

You  despise  a  man  who  is  dishonest  with  his  fellotvs.  Why  honor  the  man 
who  is  dishonest  with  God'? 

The  blessing  of  God  rests  upon  certain  old-fashioned  virtues.  The  man  who 
practices  them  is  not  attempting  to  bribe  God.    Honesty  with  God  is  quite  as 

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Union  Biblical  Seminary 

commendable  as  honesty  with  men.  Do  not  pat  yourself  on  the  back  when  you 
pay  your  tax  to  the  State,  nor  boast  when  you  pay  your  tithe  to  God.  "This 
ought  ye  to  have  done."  And  God  blesses  the  man  who  does  what  he  ought, 
but  the  blessing  comes  not  from  a  bribed  God. 

Doctor  Chadwick  told  of  a  poor  woman  who  had  a  small  income;  she  owned 
a  little  house;  for  it  she  received  ten  shillings  a  week.  Every  Saturday  night 
she  placed  the  ten  shillings  side  by  side  on  the  table.  You  know  an  English 
shilling  is  worth  twenty- five  cents.  She  took  out  the  shiniest  one  of  the  lot; 
she  lived  on  the  nine.  Her  pastor  said,  "Yoti  are  giving  too  much."  She  re- 
plied, "The  dear  Lord  can  make  a  penny  do  for  two  when  I  pay  what  I  owe 
him."  I  would  rather  live  on  nine  shillings  with  God  than  on  one  hundred 
dollars  without  him. 

He  had  another  member  of  his  church,  a  most  devout,  pious  member,  a 
washerwoman;  she  said  to  her  pastor:  "I  am  giving  all  I  can;  I  wash  four 
days  in  the  week ;  I  earn  two  dollars ;  I  cannot  spare  any  more."  A  little  later 
she  came  with  radiant  face  and  said :  "A  woman  has  engaged  me  to  wash 
Fridays;  what  I  earn  in  my  Friday  wash,  I  give  to  God.  That  is  the  hap- 
piest day  in  the  week."  She  was  working  five  days;  one  day  she  gave  her  work 
to  God. 

Money  is  of  no  value  except  as  it  can  meet  needs.  The  hest  use  brings  most 
happiness. 

A  happy  man  can  do  more  and  better  work.  It  pays  to  tithe  in  terms  of 
money  and  happiness. 

II.  It  pays  in  spiritual  power.  Malachi  promises  (3:10)  that  Jehovah  will 
open  the  windows  of  heaven  and  pour  out  an  unmeasured  blessing,  when  the 
tithe  is  brought  in.  The  spring  to  the  window  of  heaven  is  in  the  pocket  of 
the  worshiper.  We  grope  for  the  spring  with  hands  of  prayer.  Reach  down, 
not  up.  Listen  to  a  parable.  I  have  a  little  box  in  the  safety  deposit  vault, 
in  the  box  a  few  savings,  in  my  pocket  the  key.  One  day  I  went  down  to  the 
vault,  the  keeper  opened  the  door  to  me,  walked  to  the  box  with  me.  I  fell  on 
my  knees  and  began  to  plead  with  the  keeper  to  open  the  box.  He  said,  "Isn't 
the  key  in  your  pocket  ?"  I  sprang  to  my  feet,  handed  him  the  key ;  he  opened 
the  box.  The  church  is  on  its  knees  before  God,  begging  him  to  open  the  win- 
dows of  heaven,  to  pour  out  a  blessing;  she  pleads,  she  agonizes,  she  begs,  and 
the  voice  of  God  asks,  "Isn't  the  key  in  your  pocket  ?"  "Bring  ye  the  whole 
tithe  into  the  storehouse,  .  .  .  and  prove  me  now  herewith,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts,  if  I  will  not  open  you  the  windows  of  heaven,  and  pour  you  out  a  bless- 
ing, that  there  shall  not  be  room  enough  to  receive  it."  Ours  is  a  scientific 
age.    "Prove  me  now  herewith,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts." 

Nitrogen,  they  tell  us,  is  a  substance  that  bviilds  \ip  the  human  body.  We 
find  it  in  air.  It  enters  the  human  body  along  the  line  of  animal  and  vegetable 
life.  Man  finds  that  vegetable  life  exhausts  the  soil.  Prophets  tell  us  that 
when  the  earth  becomes  bankrupt  humanity  will  stai've.  Farmers  tell  us  that 
rotation  of  crops  reimburses  the  soil:  certain  kinds  of  plants  overdraw  the 
bank  account  of  nitrogen  in  the  soil ;  other  kinds  deposit  more  than  they  take 
out.  Peas,  beans,  clover,  and  alfalfa  draw  nitrogen  from  the  air  and  leave  in 
the  soil  more  than  they  use.  Wheat,  oats,  barley,  and  rye  draw  out  more  nitro- 
gen for  their  own  use  than  they  deposit  in  the  soil.     So  the  fanner  sows  seeds 

18 


Bible  Conference  Addresses 

that  deposit  a  new  bank  account;  they  draw  down  nitrogen  into  the  soil  and 
he  keeps  on  in  business. 

How  can  we  get  more  nitrogen  into  the  soil?  Seven-tenths  of  the  air  is 
nitrogen.  The  earth  lies  on  the  threshold  of  the  air,  like  Lazarus  on  the 
threshold  of  Dives'  palace:  he  cries  for  nitrogen  while  Dives  is  overloaded. 
The  earth  begs  for  nitrogen.  How  can  we  get  the  nitrogen  from  the  air,  then 
put  it  down  into  the  earth  to  build  crops?  This  is  the  great  problem  of  agri- 
culture. 

Many  years  ago  a  German  experimented  and  learned  some  things:  he  ana- 
lyzed the  soil  and  found  under  the  microscope  that  certain  plants  contain 
microscopical  bacteria  tull  of  nitrogen;  the  little  fellows  pick  the  pocket  of 
the  air,  and  deposit  the  nitrogen  in  the  earth.  Nitrogen  is  piled  up  around  the 
roots  of  certain  forms  of  plant  life  that  it  loves.  On  the  roots  of  peas,  beans, 
alfalfa,  and  clover  are  little  globules  that  reach  up  and  bring  the  nitrogen 
down.  Then  with  clover,  peas,  beans,  and  alfalfa  we  enrich  the  soil,  because 
nitrogen  loves  the  roots  of  this  kind  of  plant.  These  Germans  studied  the 
little  bunches,  cut  them  open,  and  analyzed  them.  They  found  them  full  of 
little  bacteria.  They  had  secured  a  key  to  free  nitrogen;  their  check  was  en- 
dorsed on  the  back  by  the  air,  they  had  an  endless  bank  account,  with  the  air 
above  to  enrich  the  poverty  below.  But  they  broke  down ;  they  could  not  make 
nitrogen  commercially  valuable. 

Professor  Moore,  of  Washington,  took  up  the  discovery  where  the  Germans 
broke  down;  he  carried  on  the  experiment  until  today  the  United  States  Agri- 
cultural Department  prepares  nitrogen  in  the  form  of  a  yeast  cake ;  it  is  dis- 
solved in  water,  seeds  are  soaked  in  it ;  a  solvation  plowed  into  the  soil  increases 
the  crop  forty  to  fovir  hundred  per  cent.  You  tell  me  that  when  a  farmer  dis- 
solves nitrogen  bacteria  in  water,  soaks  his  seed  in  it,  plants  his  seed  to  in- 
crease his  crop  four  hundred  per  cent.,  that  he  has  bribed  the  air?  He  has 
simply  mastered  the  secret  of  how  to  enrich  the  soil. 

In  God  ive  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being;  the  building  stuff  that  mahes 
eternal  life  is  large  in  God;  the  building  stuff  that  makes  eternal  life  is  small 
in  man.  How  can  we  reach  up  and  get  eternal  life  and  bring  it  down  to  meet 
our  needf 

Pray?  Yes.  Search  the  Scriptures?  Yes.  Is  that  bribing  God?  Tithe? 
Yes.  Bring  home  the  tithes  in  the  storehouse  and  prove  the  Lord  if  he  will 
not  open  the  windows  of  heaven  and  pour  out  a  blessing  that  there  shall  not  be 
room  to  contain  it. 

Is  it  bribing  to  live  according  to  known  law? 

Is  it  bribing  favor  to  obey  discovered  law?  Then  never  pray  again;  never 
read  the  Scriptures  again ;  never  try  to  do  a  righteous  act  again.  The  channels 
through  which  the  power  of  spiritual  life  flows  out  are  the  channels  of  prayer 
and  the  channels  of  the  tithe. 

Is  it  a  bribe  to  open  the  channels  of  spiritual  life  by  prayer  ?  It  is  no  bribe. 
Paying  the  tithe  is  no  bribe :  it  is  paying  a  debt.  You  may  pray,  and  read,  and 
sing,  and  agonize,  and  toil,  but  unless  you  meet  all  the  requirements  you  can- 
not get  the  free  nitrogen  of  the  eternal  God  to  build  perfect  character. 

If  it  is  wrong  to  prosper  in  business,  do  not  try  to;  if  it  is  right,  try  every 
right  means.  If  it  is  wrong  to  prosper  in  spiritual  life,  quit  praying  and  strug- 

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Union   Biblical  Seminary 

gling,  and  trying  to  develop  Christian  character;  if  it  is  right,  try  every  right 
means.  In  your  business,  when  you  started  you  used  common  sense.  Use  com- 
mon sense  in  the  spiritual  life,  try  every  experiment,  test  every  law,  bend  every 
energy.    Be  as  scientific  as  in  any  form  of  life  God  has  given  man, 

Christ  is  the  High  Priest  of  our  confession.  We  come  trooping  up  from  the 
valley,  after  the  struggle,  with  our  spoils.  Let  us  lay  the  tithe  of  our  posses- 
sions at  the  feet  of  the  High  Priest  of  our  confession,  and  he  will  hless  us  in 
our  business  and  in  our  spiri*iJfd  life. 


Appendix. 

RECKONING   THE    TITHE. 

We  assume  that  you  have  reached  the  point  where  you  believe  the  tithe  or 
tenth  of  your  income  belongs  to  God,  that  the  tithe  is  not  a  gift,  but  answering 
a  claim.  One-seventh  of  the  time,  one-tenth  of  the  property.  The  Sabbath 
is  not  to  be  used  for  personal  gain,  the  tithe  is  not  to  be  spent  by  you  on  your- 
self.   Day  and  money,  time  and  tithe,  belong  to  God. 

When  Abraham  paid  tithes  to  Melchizedek,  he  gave  one-tenth  of  all  the 
spoils;  he  did  not  reckon  the  cost  of  equipping  his  army,  the  cost  of  the  cam- 
paign, did  not  deduct  any  amount  from  the  whole  treasure. 

When  Jacob  made  his  vow  to  Jehovah  on  Bethel,  he  said,  "Of  all  that  thou 
shalt  give  me,  I  will  surely  give  the  tenth  unto  thee."  There  is  no  hint  of 
counting  out  the  cost  of  getting.  If  you  cut  a  loaf  into  ten  parts  and  give 
one  part,  you  do  not  count  the  cost  of  flour,  yeast,  labor,  heat,  before  cutting 
the  tithe  slice.  If  a  man  furnishes  capital,  on  condition  that  he  receive  a  tithe 
of  all  that  comes  to  you,  he  must  have  one-tenth  as  much  as  you  do  of  all  that 
comes  in. 

In  the  matter  of  salary  the  division  is  easy,  one  dollar  in  ten,  taken  out  of 
the  entire  sum,  before  personal  expenses  are  reckoned. 

With  the  farmer,  one-tenth  of  the  grain  when  reaped,  of  the  cattle  when 
sold,  of  the  fruit  when  gathered,,  and  one-tenth  of  the  money  received  in  the 
market;  for  the  farmer  has  had  his  shelter  and  board  and  warmth  off  the 
farm  while  working  it.  He  is  a  fixed  charge,  and  has  taken  cost  of  production 
out  as  he  goes  along,  the  cost  of  horses  and  oxen,  and  care  of  help  has  come 
out  of  the  farm  as  he  works  men  and  animals. 

If  in  business,  the  net  that  remains  after  rent,  interest  on  money,  salaries 
of  help,  but  not  personal  expenses.  If  a  partner  shares  in  the  gross  receipts, 
he  must  also  share  in  the  expenses.  If  you  tithe  the  gross,  then  take  out  the 
tithe  of  expenses.  Or  the  tithe  might  be  reckoned  one  of  the  fixed  charges,  as 
taxes  are,  to  come  out  of  the  gross  amount,  reckoned  with  insurance.  "Let  every 
man  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind."  "If  any  of  you  lack  wisdom,  let  him 
ask  of  God,  that  giveth  to  all  men  liberally,  and  upbraideth  not." — If  a  man 
seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  his  righteousness,  all  other  things  shall  be 
added,  and  among  the  additions  will  be  additions  of  wisdom  to  settle  detail. 


20 


Bible  Conference  Addresses 

Remarks  by  J.  Campbell  White. 

Unless  the  presentation  of  this  morning's  speech  is  absolutely  wrong  in  its 
whole  spirit  and  outlook,  we  are  facing  the  solution  of  one  of  the  greatest 
problems  before  us;  and  certainly  before  entering  into  any  conference  on  the 
subject  it  is  most  appropriate  that  we  stop  and  ask  God  wherein  we  are  failing 
so  largely  to  fulfill  these  conditions,  and  ask  him  to  give  us  the  spirit  of  re- 
sponsiveness and  teachableness  and  obedience  that  will  enable  us  to  fulfill 
conditions  that  are  not  being  fulfilled  by  us;  that  God  will  give  us  faith  to 
see  clearly  and  to  act  rightly. 

If  into  any  denomination  there  can  come  the  prevailing  spirit  of  giving  the 
proportion  he  has  always  insisted  upon,  that  denomination  will  set  a  pace 
for  Christendom  in  the  world.  Is  it  not  proper  that  we  should  pray  and  then 
confer  further  with  each  other  in  the  presence  of  God  about  what  he  would 
have  us  do  ? 

Conference  Discussion. 

Question:     What  are  you  going  to  tithe — gross  or  net? 

Doctor  Gifford  answered :  When  Jacob  had  spent  the  night  in  the  open  and 
the  window  of  night  was  opened  above  him,  then  he  made  a  vow:  "If  God 
will  be  with  me,  and  will  keep  me  in  this  Way  that  I  go,  and  will  give  me 
bread  to  eat,  and  raiment  to  put  on,  so  that  I  come  again  to  my  father's  house 
in  peace,  ....  and  of  all  that  thou  shalt  give  me  I  will  surely  give  the  tenth 
unto  thee."  And  when  Abrahatu  paid'  tithes  to  Melchizedek,  he  gave  him  one- 
tenth  of  all  the  spoils.  That  was  gross.  I  suppose  when  a  man  is  in  business, 
the  rent  of  the  building,  the  ins\irance,  the  interest  on  the  loan,  and  all  that 
comes  oiit  before  he  has  anything,  that  the  net  after  the  expenses  of  the  busi- 
ness, before  he  takes  out  his  personal  debts,  one-tenth  of  the  net  belongs  to  God. 
Jt  is  not  his  until  he  has  paid  the  interest,  and  taxes,  and  insurance,  and  wages. 
He  can  not  pay  a  tithe  and  then  cheat  his  employees. 

A  man  on  a  salary,  which  he  gets,  say,  at  the  end  of  the  month,  as  I  am, 
the  tenth  comes  out  before  I  set  down  a  slice  for  the  rest,  for  the  family  ex- 
penses such  as  the  education  of  the  children,  or  the  grocery  bill. 

I  presvmie  the  Jew  tithed  as  the  Mohammedan  or  Mormon  tithes.  When  he 
gets  ten  quarts  of  milk  he  gives  one-tenth  to  the  church;  he  gives  one-tenth 
of  the  soil  or  animal  life  to  the  church  and  lives  on  the  nine-tenths.  History 
says  early  Christians  used  to  do  this. 

I  remember  some  years  ago,  when  father's  health  failed  him,  I  used  to  send 
him,  as  I  was  delighted  to,  a  check  to  care  for  him,  and  a  friend  of  mine  said, 
"You  ought  to  take  that  out  of  the  tithe."  Yes;  support  your  father  out  of 
the  tithe.    Is  not  God  your  Father? 

I  think  a  man  should  tithe  as  fast  as  the  money  comes  in ;  not  spasmodi- 
cally, but  methodically.  God  does  nothing  by  spasms  except  to  cast  out  devils. 
The  Protestant  form  of  service  is  spasmodic,  like  a  child  teething  that  has 
spasms.  There  are  spasms  of  evangelistic  service,  spasms  of  special  service, 
spasms  of  special  appeal.     When  they  had  a  spasm  of  fire  on  the  California 

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Union  Biblical  Seminary 

coast,  they  called  in  the  regulars,  and  system  sat  down  on  the  spasm  and  cured 
it.  One  great  advantage  of  this  system  is  compulsory  system.  We  are  not 
failing  so  much  in  the  lack  of  faith  and  truth  as  in  the  lack  of  system. 

Question:  Suppose  I  am  a  newly  converted  man,  and  during  the  earlier 
years  of  my  life  I  come  into  possession  of  an  estate.  From  that  estate  I  have 
quite  a  little  income.    Now,  where  should  my  tithing  begin  ? 

Answer :  The  day  of  your  l)irth.  Take  one-tenth  of  the  income,  no  matter 
what  the  source. 

Question :     Is  it  meant  that  no  man  not  spiritually  born  should  tithe  ? 

Answer:     First  duty  is  to  get  spiritually  born. 

Question:     How  introduce  this  idea  in  a  church? 

Answer:  I  would  issue  literature,  and  get  the  scheme  advertised  through 
literature;  get  pamphlets  that  are  issued  on  the  subject  and  begin  personal 
work.  I  would  begin  on  the  field  that  is  most  mellow.  Get  hold  of  two  or 
three  who  are  nearest  to  that  point,  and  when  they  believe  in  it,  get  them 
to  stand  squarely  for  it.  If  you  get  a  convert,  you  have  a  firebrand.  The 
man  who  just  believes  it,  believes  it  tremendously.  The  tithe  is  a  minimum, 
not  a  maximum.    When  you  have  a  center  you  can  describe  a  circle. 

Canvass  the  church.  Say  there  are  two  classes  of  people  in  this  church, 
those  who  can  give  and  those  who  have  to  be  given  to.  We  will  start  a  fund 
and  loan  you  ten  cents  or  a  quarter  a  week;  but  you  must  have  nn  envelope. 
If  you  have  no  income  or  no  means  of  income,  we  will  support  you  in  this 
way;  but  all  the  blood  in  this  ecclesiastical  body  must  circulate.  Do  not  have 
any  false  pride  about  it.  If  you  can  not  march,  we  will  carry  you;  but  you 
must  carrj^  a  broomstick.  Every  one  should  give  something.  Some  people 
are  too  poor  to  give  by  any  rule  of  worldly  wisdom,  and  yet,  down  in  the  poorest 
section  of  the  city  of  Boston,  where  three  or  four  people  live  in  one  or  two 
rooms,  if  a  child  dies  they  put  a  can  out  on  the  threshold  and  all  the  residents 
drop  a  penny  or  nickel  or  dime  in  it,  and  they  get  money  to  bury  the  dead. 
It  is  amazing  what  people  can  do  when  touched  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 

Question  :  I  have  a  member  in  my  church  receiving  ten  dollars  per  week.  He 
is  paying  $12.50  rent  per  month.  He  has  three  small  children.  The  oldest 
one  is  six.  He  is  giving  twenty-five  cents  per  week  in  the  church.  Do  you 
think  he  is  giving  enough? 

Answer :  I  would  be  tempted  to  try  the  ex-periment  of  trying  to  make  myself 
worth  more  than  ten  dollars  per  week. 

Second  answer:  There  are  a  great  many  workingmen  receiving  only  ten 
and  twelve  dollars  per  week,  and  the  rents  in  this  city  are  high — from  ten  to 
twelve  dollars — and  they  are  paying  more  than  one-tenth  of  their  income  to 
the  Lord.  I  know  it;  and  they  are  saving  money  while  they  are  doing  it.  A 
large  proportion  of  tithing  in  Dayton  started  through  a  boy  who  was  making 
five  dollars  a  week  and  helping  to  support  his  mother.  He  always  had  some- 
thing to  give  M'hen  a  good  cause  came,  and  a  group  of  young  men  asked  him 
how  it  happened  that  every  week  he  had  fifty  cents.  The  influence  of  that  boy 
in  this  city  twenty  years  ago  and  more  is  going  out  to-day  among  hundreds  of 
men  that  I  know  of  who  have  been  led  to  follow  his  example.  Some  have 
grown  wealthy  as  a  result  of  the  systematic  life  which  giving  has  encouraged. 

Question:     How  about  making  the  church  a  storehoiise?     Here  is  a  church 

22 


Bible  Conference  Addresses 

of  three  hundred  members.  Among  them  ten  or  a  dozen  or  fifteen  tithe.  The 
finances  of  this  board  are  controlled  by  an  official  board.  One  of  this  board, 
possibly,  tithes ;  the  rest  are  opposed  to  it.  The  question  that  has  bothered  me 
is,  the  justice  of  the  money  of  the  tithers  being  adjusted  by  those  who  do  not 
tithe. 

Answer:     The  tithers  of  every  church  ought  to  have  their  own  committee. 

Question :  Are  the  tithers  to  have  their  own  committee,  and  are  they  to 
advise  the  official  board  what  to  do  ? 

Answer:  No.  With  us  we  have  a  form  of  pledge.  I  tvirn  the  tithe  in  to  a 
tithing  secretary.  He  gives  fifty  per  cent,  of  it  to  church  expenses.  That 
goes  over  to  the  treasurer  of  that  fund.  A  certain  other  per  cent,  to  foreign 
missions  to  that  secretary,  etc.,  the  rest  for  a  reserve  fund,  to  be  drawn  from 
when  the  special  need  comes  up.    The  money  of  the  tithers  is  kept  separate. 

Question:  Does  this  cause  friction  between  those  who  tithe  and  those  who 
do  not  tithe? 

Answer:  No.  All  have  their  own  way,  which  is  the  height  of  ambition  in 
the  Baptist  Church. 

There  was  a  young  man  in  a  neighboring  city  who  was  like  a  frog  in  a 
well,  with  one  foot  out  of  the  well,  taking  one  step  out  and  going  back  two 
feet.  He  finally  went  into  banlcruptcy  in  his  business  and  borrowed  money. 
Then  the  thought  of  the  tithe  began  to  sing  itself  into  his  soul,  but  he  said, 
''Don't  you  see  I  cannot  tithe,  because  I  owe  interest  on  borrowed  money?" 
How  much  did  he  owe  God  ?  He  is  the  preferred  creditor.  On  that  basis  he 
began  to  tithe.  His  spiritual  life  quickened.  His  change  of  mind  made  a 
great  many  changes  in  his  physical  habits.  As  the  months  went  by  he  found 
himself  winning  the  confidence  of  men.  Men  were  kindly  disposed  toward 
him.  There  was  a  change  in  himself  and  a  change  in  others  toward  him. 
His  business  increased,  and  now  he  is  a  very  successful  man. 

Christ  emphasizes  the  giving  of  the  one-tenth  when  he  says  to  the  Pharisee, 
"This  ought  ye  to  have  done."  History  teaches  us  that  the  Greeks  paid  tithes, 
the  Romans  and  the  Jews  also.  We  have  a  system  among  the  laboring  men 
there,  so  that  if  any  one  should  get  sick,  he  comes  to  us  with  a  paper  to  help 
him.    Now,  am  T  to  take  out  of  my  tithe  or  go  back  to  my  income? 

Answer :    You  should  take  it  oiit  of  j^our  income. 


23 


Union  Bihlical  Seminary 


JFtidap  )aftetnoon. 


Opening  Remarks  by  J.  Campbell  White. 

Let  ns  siig'gest  the  things  that  ought  to  be  on  our  minds  for  special  occasions 
for  prayer  during  this  Conference.  I  think  this  would  be  helpful  and  tend 
toward  the  greater  reality;  suggest  the  things  .for  which  we  need  to  thank  God. 
Sometimes  I  think  we  rush  into  the  presence  of  God  before  we  are  sure  of 
what  we  want. 

SUGGESTIONS  AS  TO  WHAT  THEY  SHOULD  PRAY  FOR. 

1.  Removal  of  the  saloons  from  Dayton. 

2.  Enlargement  in  Christian  work. 

3.  Enlarged  vision;  enlarged  coiirage  and  faith  that  we  may  consecrate 
ourselves  to  this  great  work. 

4.  That  the  individual  members  of  the  churches  may  each  feel  personally 
responsible  for  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  in  the  earth. 

5.  For  a  better  equipment  to  carry  forward  the  great  work  that  the  Lord 
has  committed  to  us. 

6.  More  implicit  faith  in  the  truthfulness  of  God's  word. 

7.  For  the  victories  of  the  cross  in  our  own  day.  Very  helpful  to  have  an 
overmastering  conviction  of  the  authority  of  God's  word. 

8.  Better  consecration  of  those  who  are  called  by  God  to  lead  our  people. 

9.  A  passion  for  souls. 

Those  attending  conventions  are  impressed  by  the  multitude  of  subjects, 
and  a  feeling  of  congestion  comes  to  them  and  the  possibility  of  not  carry- 
ing much  away.  Trying  to  think  through  two  or  three  big  things,  going  away 
with  two  or  three  strong  impressions  that  will  remain  as  long  as  you  live,  is 
better  than  getting  a  dozen  half  impressions. 

After  we  hear  another  address  from  Doctor  Gifford,  and  then  express 
the  best  of  our  own  experience  in  trying  to  obey  these  commands,  I  think  we 
will  have  one  very  strong  impression,  and  that  is,  God  is  giving  Ihc  privilege 
of  holding  our  possessions  at  his  disposal  and  direction.  This  morning  the 
qiiestions  dealt  a  good  deal  with  little  points  of  how  to  determine  what  the 
tithe  should  be,  rather  than  the  great  general  principle.  This  afternoon  I  hope 
the  Conference  will  talk  about  their  actual  experiences;  about  what  God  has 
revealed  to  their  spiritual  life;  that  students  will  tell  of  the  struggles  of  get- 
ting to  the  point  of  doing  what  God  wanted  them  to  do.  Now,  if  we  can  get  a 
volume  of  testimony,  I  do  not  see  why  we  should  not  be  able  to  bring  every- 
body in  this  great  audience  to  a  imity  of  conviction  and  purpose  with  reference 
to  this. 

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Bible  Conference  Addresses 

Address  by  Doctor  Gifford. 

Experience  interprets  life.  Truth  is  not  matured  by  thought,  but  by  life. 
Truth  in  the  brain  is  a  very  pleasant  companion,  but  truth  in  the  life  becomes 
a  very  useful  servant.  The  Master  said,  "I  came  that  ye  might  have  life,  and 
life  more  abundant."  The  great  trouble  with  preachers  is,  they  think  when 
they  have  thought  things  through  it  is  time  for  the  benediction.  No,  brethren, 
the  process  is  only  begun  when  thoiight  through  clearly.  It  must  be  lived 
through  consistently.  If  a  man  has  thought  it  through,  but  does  not  live  it, 
you  need  not  expect  that  any  one  will  take  the  thought  from  him.  I  remember 
years  ago,  when  I  was  a  clerk  in  a  New  York  store,  I  had  set  my  mind  on  a 
merchant's  career.  I  attended  a  church  in  Brooklyn.  A  Bible  teacher  became 
interested  in  my  personal  welfare.  For  weeks  I  struggled  for  the  light.  At 
one  meeting  I  rose  for  prayer  eight  times.  I  expected  to  be  massaged  into  the 
kingdom.  I  thought  if  I  could  get  others  to  pray  for  me  I  would  somehow  get 
into  the  kingdom.  At  a  certain  meeting  a  student  preached  on  Faith,  and 
said:  "When  I  close  my  eyes  I  blot  oat  this  congregation.  When  I  open  my 
eyes  I  see  this  congregation.  Opening  my  eyes  has  created  nothing.  Faith 
creates  nothing.  Doubt  destroys  nothing.  Faith  relates  you  personally  to 
what  is."  During  the  rest  of  the  morning  I  opened  and  shut  my  eyes  and 
looked  around,  and  I  said,  "It  works." 

As  far  as  I  am  concerned,  this  congregation  disappears  when  I  shut  my  eyes. 
I  bowed  my  head  and  said  I  would  open  my  eyes  and  walk  in  the  light.  Now, 
we  are  face  to  face  with  a  great  truth.  Doiibt  does  not  destroy  it.  Faith  does 
not  create  it.  Doubt  bars  you  from  it,  and  faith  relates  you  to  it,  and  when 
you  have  lifted  the  lids  of  your  soul  and  seen  it,  then  you  are  under  obligations 
to  live  it.  You  may  not  know  just  ■vvhere  it  will  carry  you.  I  was  rather  inter- 
ested, as  I  sat  here  this  afternoon,  in  listening  to  the  crying  of  a  little  child 
behind  me.  The  father  of  the  child  was  trying  to  keep  him  silent,  but  the 
child  cried  and  cried  until  the  father  adjourned  with  his  crying  baby.  Now, 
you  may  not  know  where  this  tithe  child  will  take  you,  if  you  adopt  it.  If  it 
is  right,  do  it.  If  it  is  wrong,  quit  it.  Do  not  fool  around.  If  you  settle  in 
your  soul  that  it  is  wrong  to  tithe,  stop  it.  If  you  have  reached  the  conviction 
that  it  is  right,  do  it,  even  if  the  church  does  not  believe  in  it.  Your  personal 
obligation  begins  when  you  have  reached  the  conviction  of  duty  for  your  own 
soul.  That  is  all.  What  are  your  marching  orders?  WHiy,  go  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  gospel.  Well,  obey  orders.  That  is  all.  That  comprised 
the  power  under  Alexander.  When  you  see  a  duty,  brother  soldier,  go  and  do 
it.  Do  not  speculate.  Your  brains  are  congested  with  truth.  Now,  manifest 
it  through  active  sei'vice. 

What  is  the  basis  of  all  this  ?  What  lies  back  of  it  ?  Life,  like  a  Japanese 
picture,  with  no  perspective,  is  poor  art,  tremendously  poor.  Back  of  the  power 
of  the  Niagara  Falls  lies  the  power  of  the  Great  Lake  system.  Daniel  Web- 
ster was  a  great  man.  Lie  had  no  "superiors ;  no  equals  at  the  bench.  A  friend 
asked  him,  "What  is  the  most  important  thoiight  that  has  entered  your  mind?" 
He  dropped  his  head  and  gravely  said,  "The  thought  of  my  personal  account- 
ability to  Almighty  God."     There  is  perspective  for  you. 

George  Washington  was  a  great  man.  His  like  the  Republic  has  not  seen 
since  he  fell  asleep  in  Virginia.     In  his  little  library  is  one  book,  by  Judge 

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Union  Biblical  Seminary 

Matthew  Hale,  on  morals,  which  opens ,  naturally  to  one  page,  worn  thin  by 
touch  of  finger  and  thumb.  That  page  teaches  this  accountability  to  God  for 
what  is  done  in  the  body.  This  is  what  was  back  of  that  marvelous  life  of  per- 
sonal integrity. 

Emanuel  Kant  was  a  great  thinker.  He  said  one  day,  "Two  things  over- 
whelm me — the  starry  world  above  and  the  moral  order  within."  The  heavens 
declare  the  glory  of  God;  the  moral  order  declares  the  character  of  God.  The 
sense  of  "ought,"  of  personal  accountability  to  God,  the  giving  account  to  God 
of  the  deeds  done  in  the  body,  is  in  the  fiber  of  the  soul.  To  be  is  to  be 
accountable  to  God.  It  is  wrought  into  the  fiber  of  man  if  duty  is  what  is  due, 
and  what  is  due  grows  out  of  the  relations,  and  relations  express  the  sum  total 
of  human  life.  Because  the  universe  is  what  it  is,  because  you  arc'  what  you 
are  when  you  come  into  the  universe,  you  enter  into  relation,  and  out  of  rela- 
tion comes  duty,  and  duty  clamors  for  what  is  dvie.  When  a  child  is  born  into 
a  family,  it  comes  into  relation  to  the  father,  the  mother;  it  grows  up  face  to 
face  with  certain  duties  that  grow  out  of  these  relations.  When  the  child 
enters  school  he  enters  other  relations  and  other  duties.  When  the  man  stands 
at  the  altar  and  pledges  himself  to  the  woman  he  has  chosen  for  his  wife,  he 
•assumes  other  duties.  When  the  blessing  of  God  crowns  the  union,  he  assumes 
other  relations,  other  duties.  Life  is  summed  up  in  duties.  When  the  sense 
of  duty  is  begun,  when  the  relations  are  properly  cared  for,  you  have  the  ideal 
family. 

All  great  teachers,  Confucius  in  China,  Buddha  in  India,  etc.,  are  great 
because  they  assumed  obligation.  Christ  tells  us  to  do  certain  things.  He 
said,  "These  things  ye  ought  to  have  done,"  basing  his  whole  appeal  to  con- 
science, not  to  the  emotions  or  feelings.  The  emotions  are  injurious  and 
dangeroiis  to  follow  sometimes.  Too  many  people  have  been  turned  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  with  feeling..  When  you  have  touched  a  man's  conscience, 
when  you  have  appealed  to  his  sense  of  "ought,"  you  have  laid  the  right  foun- 
dation. Right  is  right,  and  has  been  since  God  is  God,  and  right  must  win. 
Whether  men's  emotions  respond  or  not,  whether  men's  sentiments  are  stirred 
or  not,  the  question  is  whether  it  is  right  or  wrong.  If  it  is  wrong,  quit  it;  if 
right,  do  it.  When  we  come  into  the  world  we  come  into  two  sets  of  relations 
— relations  with  men  and  relations  with  God. 

What  the  world  needs  is  absolute  justice  in  the  relation  of  men  to  men. 
"What  ye  would  that  others  would  do  to  you,  do  ye  so  to  them."  Put  yourself 
in  the  other  man's  place.  You,  who  have  domestic  servants,  put  yourselves 
into  the  kitchen  problem.  Demand  nothing  that  you  would  not  want  to  grant 
if  you  were  in  the  servant's  place.  If  you  are  a  domestic,  then  put  yourself 
into  the  parlor  problem,  and  do  as  you  would  have  desired  to  be  done  by,  if 
you  had  been  in  the  parlor. 

If  you  are  an  employer,  treat  the  men  under  you  as  you  would  want  to  be 
treated  if  you  had  exchanged  places.  We  measure  all  the  relations  of  life 
by  the  justice  of  man  to  man.  Organized  capital  and  organized  labor  will 
grind  themselves  to  powder  until  there  is  justice  between  man  and  man  mani- 
fested, until  men  reach  the  place  where  men  treat  each  other  with  a  spirit  of 
justice.  Many  a  man  tries  to  heal  the  heart  that  injustice  has  made  sore,  by 
the  salve  of  mercy.  If  men  were  absolutely  just  in  their  dealings  one  with 
another,  no  appeal  for  the  oil  of  mercy  to  salve  the  wounds  that  injustice  made 

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Bible  Conference  Addresses 

would  be  necessary.  We  ought  to  have  been  merciful.  Ye  ought  to  have  faith. 
I  would  not  give  a  snap  of  the  finger  for  faith  that  does  not  make  faithful,  for 
a  faith  in  God  that  is  not  strong  enough  to  make  one  faithful  in  his  obligation 
to  another — that  kind  of  faith  in  Christians  is  disgusting. 

But,  is  that  not  enough?  If  you  are  faithful  and  just  and  merciful  toward 
your  fellow-men,  will  God  ask  more  than  that?  Yes.  Benedict  Arnold,  the 
traitor,  was  a  kind  man  in  his  family.  I  dare  say  the  capitalist  who  throttles 
labor  is  kind  to  his  own  children.  A  pair  of  shears  is  of  no  value  if  the  two 
blades  are  separated.  The  blades  will  not  serve  as  knives,  as  they  are  not 
shaped  right  for  that  purpose;  they  will  not  serve  as  gimlets,  as  they  are  not 
twisted  to  serve  as  such;  the  handles  are  not  shaped  right  for  hammers.  All 
they  are  fit  for  is  the  scrap  heap.  The  two  blades  have  to  work  together.  So 
it  is  in  respect  to  your  duties  to  God  and  to  man.  To  emphasize  one  or  the 
other  is  to  ruin  your  Christian  practice.  You  ought  to  do  some  things  for  your 
fellow-men  and  some  things  for  God.  You  never  saw  a  disembodied  spirit. 
You  never  saw  a  disembodied  religion.  We  are  yet  in  the  flesh,  and,  being  in 
the  flesh,  we  must  put  oiir  principles  into  visible  forms — missions,  buildings, 
institutions.  Jesus  Christ  was  God  manifested  in  the  Christ,  and  every  man  is 
an  incorporation  of  spiritual  forms.  So  Christian  religion  must  incarnate 
itself  in  institutions,  buildings,  paid  offices;  and  all  of  us,  in  discharging  our 
obligations  to  God,  must  meet  these  requirements.  When  the  Boers  revolted 
against  the  British,  the  British  government  sent  a  visible  army  to  conquer  a 
visible  rebellion.  We  must  conquer  the  devil  by  visible  money.  Prayer  is  no 
substitute  for  giving.  Scripture  reading  is  no  substitute  for  giving.  Kindly 
feeling  is  no  substitute  for  giving.     There  is  no  suhstitute  for  giving. 

Now,  what  does  money  stand  for?  It  is  talent  multiplied  by  time.  It  is 
something  you  are  born  into.  It  belongs  no  more  to  you  than  the  air  belongs 
to  the  bird,  into  which  it  is  launched.  It  is  simply  God's  opportunity  for  you 
to  serve  him.  Every  man's  organization  is  an  output  of  God's  thought,  God's 
pixrpose.  Time  is  the  gift  of  the  eternal.  Talent  is  the  gift  of  the  Creator. 
The  product  belongs  to  God.  He  comes  into  your  life  and  says,  "Six  days 
shalt  thou  labor,  but  on  the  Sabbath  thou  shalt  do  no  work,"  which  is  sacred 
to  the  Lor'l  thy  God.  He  puts  a  mortgage  over  one-seventh  of  the  time  that  is 
covered.  Why?  In  order  that  through  that  mortgage  he  may  come  into  pos- 
session of  the  rest  of  the  property. 

Then  as  to  talent.  We  are  told  to  give  one-tenth  of  that.  Through  the  one- 
tenth  he  conquers  yourself.  Just  as  the  trolley  car  receives  its  motive  power 
from  the  dynamo  by  the  passage  over  the  wire,  so  God  permeates  your  business 
life  and  gives  you  strength  to  serve  him  as  you  ought.  He  says,  "This  one- 
tenth  belongs  to  me."  Woe  to  the  man  who  plays  false  with  his  own  conscience. 
Woe  to  the  man  who  begins  to  juggle  with  his  conscience,  for  when  the  sense 
of  "ought"  is  dull,  he  cannot  be  trusted  in  anything.  I  want  to  base  it  on 
conscience.  The  Christian  conscience  is  as  the  Great  System  of  the  North- 
west. What  I  want  to  do  is  to  touch  the  nerve  of  the  conscience.  It  is  not  a 
question  of  feeling  or  emotion.  Ye  neglect  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law. 
We  ought  to  keep  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law.  "Ye  ought  to  tithe." 
Now,  we  come  to  the  practical  application  of  it,  for,  when  a  man  has  decided 


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that  a  thing  is  right,  then  the  trouble  often  begins.  In  the  church  tliat  I  serve, 
we  began  tithing  by  an  appeal  to  the  board  of  trustees.  The  trustees  are  often 
like  a  brakeman  on  a  train.  The  engineer  must  not  bear  heavy  on  the  brakes, 
nor  must  the  congregation  on  the  trustees.  Wlien  we  brought  it  before  the 
trustees  the  first  year,  they  said,  "No,  because  we  are  on  the  edge  all  the  time 
anyway.  We  are  afraid  a  step  in  the  otlier  direction  will  be  a  step  into  the 
gulf."  However,  they  said,  "There  is  only  one  condition,  and  that  is,  if  you 
tithe,  you  will  agree  to  not  give  less  than  you  are  giving  now."  That  is  faith 
— faith  in  the  business  brains  of  a  Christian  church.  So  we  took  the  pledge. 
Any  way  to  get  in,  we  thought,  and  we  kept  it  for  a  year,  and  they  were  per- 
fectly amazed.     The  financial  problem  ran  a  great  deal  more  smoothly. 

The  tithers  found  that  they  had  i-eally  been  robbing  God;  so  a  great  many 
are  giving  more  than  the  tithe  now.  Some  people  enjoy  having  fits  of  benevo- 
lence. The  first  year,  1903,  we  had  twenty-eight  tithers,  and  we  tvirned  in 
$1,256.60;  the  second  year,  twenty-five  tithers,  and  turned  in  $3,440.27 — nearly 
a  thousand  dollars  more;  in  1905,  thirty-five  tithers,  and  turned  in  $4,978;  the 
last  year,  thirty-seven  tithers,  and  turned  in  $7,500;  and  now  the  trustees  want 
to  organize  a  hallelujah  chorus  with  the  tithe  for  the  theme.  The  way  we  get 
at  it  is,  first  of  all,  to  issue  literature.  The  man  who  is  most  heartily  in  favor 
of  the  tithe  is  an  advertising  agent.  He  believes  in  making  a  market.  Any- 
body can  make  goods.  It  takes  a  genius  to  make  a  market.  A  man  took  his 
son  Abraham  to  a  Jewish  clothing  store,  and  said,  "Isaac,  take  Abraham  and 
make  a  merchant  of  him."  He  kept  him  a  week  and  sent  him  home.  The  man 
went  back  and  asked  the  Jew  what  was  the  matter.  "Cannot  he  sell  goods 
when  people  want  to  buy?"  The  Jew  answered,  "Yes;  any  fellow  can  do  that. 
I  want  him  to  sell  goods  when  nobody  wants  to  buy."  It  takes  more  brains  to 
get  the  needle  into  the  web  than  to  thread  it.  Anybody  can  thread  a  needle. 
It  takes  brains  to  get  the  needle  into  the  web.    It  takes  a  seamstress. 

Thomas  Cade  has  issued  several  pamphlets,  argumentative  and  illustrative, 
in  story  form.  The  pamphlets  were  distributed.  We  simply  called  the  people's 
attention  to  them,  and  expressed  the  wish  that  they  would  read  them.  They 
read  them.  I  said,  "I  wish  you  would  think  about  them."  Many  people  use 
reading  as  an  opiate  when  they  do  not  want  to  think.  One  and  another  began 
to  sprout  up  through  this  enlargement  of  soul.  They  came  to  me  and  said, 
"Wlien  shall  we  begin?"  It  is  a  great  thing,  brother  minister,  to  get  the  initia- 
tive from  the  pew;  to  work  around  a  man  in  such  a  wny  as  to  have  your  hand 
on  his  l:)ack  and  yet  make  him  think  he  is  moving  himself.  After  interest  had 
sprung  up,  we  went  to  the  trustees  and  asked  the  privilege  of  tithing.  When 
half  a  dozen  people  want  a  certain  thing  they  are  like  a  crying  baby.  The  rest 
of  the  family  have  to  keep  awake.  We  sang  our  song  early  and  late.  Each 
one  who  began  to  tithe  received  a  spiritual  blessing.  The  window  of  heaven 
opened.  As  they  began  to  tithe  they  wanted  more  room  for  growth.  They 
touched  others.  I  suppose  by  your  name,  "The  United  Brethren,"  you  have  no 
differences  of  opinion  in  the  organization.  We  drew  up  a  tithing  covenant 
and  we  now  have  three  forms  of  the  covenants.  You  cannot  use  a  patent 
medicine  for  every  member  of  the  family,  so  you  have  to  study  each  tempera- 
ment. So  we  conceived  three  forms  of  tithing.  [He  then  read  the  three  forms 
of  tithing.]  The  different  methods  provide  for  personal  idiosyncrasies,  even 
in  Baptist  churches. 

Benediction  bv  Dr.  S.  S.  Hough. 

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ftitiav  &tnim. 


The  services  opened  by  the  congregation  singing  "Onward  Christian   Sol- 
diers," "Life  Time  is  Working  Time,"  and  "All  to  Jesus  I  Surrender." 

The  Evening  Lesson. 

Bij  J.    Camjjhell    White. 
Our  evening  lesson  is  from  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  the  Gospel  by  John, 
•"Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,"  etc. 


Prayer  by  Bishop  Mathews. 

O  God,  we  thank  thee  for  this  beautiful  chapter  which  has  been  read  to  us — 
words  from  the  lips  of  the  beloved  apostle  John;  words  which  have  dried  the 
tears  in  the  eyes  of  thousands  and  comforted  the  hearts  of  millions;  words 
that  have  been  an  inspiration  to  the  church  through  all  ages  down  to  the  pres- 
ent time;  words  concerning  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  Sonship  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  the  personality  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  words  which  are  applicable  to 
us  this  night.  O  we  thank  thee  for  this  sweet  message  that  came  from  the  lips 
■of  the  beloved  apostle.  And  now,  Holy  Spirit,  we  are  in  thy  dispensation. 
Thou  art  presiding  over  the  church.  Thou  art  the  administrator  of  the  church. 
Thou  art  the  illuminator  of  the  church.  Thou  dost  cleanse  away  from  us  all 
•doubt.  Thovi  dost  bring  us  into  vital  union  with  Jesus  Christ,  our  personal 
Savior.    Thou  dost  guide  us  into  all  truth  if  we  are  willing  to  be  led  by  thee. 

O  Holy  Spirit,  wilt  thou  this  night  preside  over  this  entire  service,  and 
direct  everything  from  the  beginning  to  the  end?  That  the  reading  of  thy 
Word  may  rest  upon  our  conscience,  upon  our  hearts,  and  sink  into  our  very 
soul,  so  we  may  treasure  up  these  great  truths  which  have  been  read  by  thy 
servant  in  our  hearing  this  evening;  and,  blessed  Spirit,  we  thank  thee  for 
suggesting  to  the  minds  of  those  who  are  in  lead  here  in  this  Bible  Confer- 
ence, the  calling  to  this  place  of  these  two  noble  representatives  of  their  own^ 
churches;  representatives  of  the  most  intelligent,  heroic,  broad  type  of  Chris- 
tian life.  O  God,  we  thank  thee  for  thy  servant  who  comes  from  a  far-away 
city — a  great  spiritual  leader,  a  mighty  man ;  not  only  from  this  city  in  the 
far  West  (the  great  city  where  he  magnified  God  and  where  God  used  him), 
but  in  the  city  of  the  East  where  he  brought  men  and  women  into  the  larger 
vision  of  Christ;  whom  God  is  using  to  lead  people  into  greater  experience 

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with  God  and  Christ,  and  to  a  larger  spiritual  vision  of  God,  making  him  more 
and  more  a  blessing  to  every  one  of  us. 

And  now,  we  thank  thee  for  this  noble  and  distinguished  layman  here  and 
others  throughout  this  country  as  well  as  in  other  lands  who  preach  the  ever- 
lasting triTth ;  who  is  living  it  out  in  a  beautiful  life.  We  thank  thee  thou 
hast  brought  him  here  to-night ;  he  has  already  given  to  us  words  of  truth  and 
inspiration.  Lord,  bless  him  to-night  and  all  who  may  speak  to  us,  bearing  to 
us  messages  that  lie  upon  their  hearts  and  which  will  stir  our  consciences  and 
broaden  our  vision.  Lead  us  to  a  better  vision  of  responsibility  and  steward- 
ship, and  more  heroic  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  as  we  go  forward  in  the  aggressive 
world  to  hasten  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  earth. 

Hear  our  prayers  for  the  laymen  of  our  church ;  the  laity  of  our  church 
everywhere  in  Christendom.  We  pray  that  thou  wilt  bring  them  to  an  affec- 
tionate, thorough,  and  deep  consecration  of  themselves,  their  time,  their  talent, 
and  their  money  to  thee,  that  the  light  may  shine  everywhere,  and  that  all  may 
unite  their  forces  for  the  onward  movement  of  thy  kingdom  in  the  earth,  the 
universal  triumph  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  for  the  recognition  of  thy  final  suprem- 
acy over  all  the  eai'th. 

Wonderfully  use  these  brethren  who  shall  bear  to  us  the  messages  that  lie 
upon  their  hearts  and  the  thoughts  that  stir  their  brains,  and  the  sentiments 
and  purpose  that  are  within  the  scope  of  their  conception.  Lead  us  more  and 
more  to  cooperate  with  thee  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  advancement  and  build- 
ing up  of  thy  kingdom,  for  it  is  not  denominational  glory,  but  Christ,  the 
Almighty  God,  the  Everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of  Peace,  that  we  should 
emphasize — the  God  of  man,  our  Leader,  Brother,  our  Friend,  our  Savior,  the 
King — and,  when  we  cooperate  with  him,  then  his  kingdom  shall  advance 
rapidly  in  the  earth. 

O  Lord,  help  us  to  put  upon  thy  brow  to-night,  in  sermon,  meditation, 
prayer,  and  offering,  a  crown  that  shall  be  worthy  of  thy  brow.  We  ask  it  not 
that  we  are  worthy,  but  because  of  the  infinite  worthiness  of  thyself.     Amen. 

Preliminary  Speech  by  J.  Campbell  White. 

The  chief  thing  to  do  is  set  every  man  to  work  in  his  own  congregation  and 
conununity,  and  then,  along  the  line  of  gifts,  to  work  toward  the  ideal  of 
having  every  one  give  every  week  on  the  basis  of  at  least  one-tenth  of  his 
income.  That  has  been  taken  as  a  sort  of  watchword  or  motto  for  the  Men's 
Movement,  about  which  we  shall  have  more  to  say  in  the  meeting  to-morrow 
afternoon. 

There  are  four  things  laid  down  by  the  Bible.  The  first  is,  lift  up  your 
eyes  and  look  on  the  field,  and  get  an  intelligent  knowledge  of  the  conditions. 
This  is  the  very  first  requisite  if  we  are  going  to  pray  and  pay  together.  The 
other  three  obligations  that  are  so  clearlv  laid  down  in  the  Scripture  are 
"pray,"  "go,"  and  "pay." 

Three  out  of  every  four  in  America  are  outside  of  the  membership ;  two  out 
of  three  of  all  the  people  in  the  world  are  in  non-Christian  nations;  and  the 
overwhelming  majority  are  outside  of  the  reach  of  any  messenger  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

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Bible  Conference  Addresses 

Talking  about  money,  sometimes  people  get  the  idea  that  the  main  thing 
we  are  to  give  to  God  is  our  money.  The  money  is  a  very  subordinate  thing. 
Other  things  are  more  vital,  that  go  much  further  to  the  heart  of  life.  Some- 
times we  think  if  we  give  God  a  reasonable  faith  he  will  conquer  this  world 
through  us.  When  we  give  him  our  faith  we  will  surely  give  him  our  love  and 
our  purpose  to  cooperate  with  him  and  our  prayers  that  his  kingdom  may 
come,  and  our  personal  influence  upon  every  life  that  we  can  touch.  After 
that  it  is  a  very  easy  thing  to  give  our  money. 

The  man  who  painted  that  chart  was  very  much  struck  with  the  fact  that 
we  put  five  things  before  money.    The  chart  named  showed  the  following : 

r^     ,    r^  r  !•    His  Love. 

God's  Contribution       r>      ^^^  ^^^ 

TO   THE  \    o"      jjjg   gpiniT 

World's  Redemption   [^  ^-     ^^^  Word". 

f  1.    My  Faith. 

,,     ^  2.    My  Love. 

My  Contribution       j  3      ^^.  ^^^^^^^^ 

to    THE  j    4        j^^.    Pjj^yERS. 

World  s  Redemption   |   5      j^j^.  Influence. 
[  6      My  Money. 

There  are  other  things  more  important  than  money.  What  he  ought  to  do 
with  his  personality  is  put  it  to  the  disposal  of  Jesus  Christ. 


Address  by  Doctor  Gifford. 

Text  taken  from  the  Gospel  according  to  St.  John,  fourteenth  chapter,  last 
clause,  thirty-first  verse,  "Arise,  let  us  go  hence." 

The  son  of  David  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem  studied  men  and  nature,  and 
noted  that  the  generations  follow^ed  one  after  another  in  an  endless  proces- 
sion; that  the  wind  turns  toward  the  north  and  then  toward  the  south  from 
whence  it  came;  that  the  rivers  turn  tow^ard  the  sea  and  turn  again  to  the 
springs  that  gave  them  birth;  that  all  nature  is  w'orking  and  restless,  but  the 
earth  abides.  We  are  wiser  than  the  wise  son  of  David  in  Jerusalem.  We 
know  that  the  earth  itself  does  not  abide;  that  it  turns  on  its  own  axis  every 
four  and  twenty  hours;  that  it  sweeps  around  the  sun  1,080  miles  a  minute; 
that  this  restless  earth  is  always  in  motion  from  the  center  to  the  circum- 
ference; there  is  not  a  particle  or  an  atom  that  is  at  rest,  from  the  core  of  the 
movmtain  to  the  fluttering  leaf  of  the  mountain-top;  always  everything  is  in 
motion.  Now  and  then  we  have  an  earthquake  that  shakes  and  startles  us; 
shifts  only  a  few  inches  and  a  city  disappears.  About  a  year  ago  I  stood  on 
the  edge  of  the  city  of  Gaza,  in  Palestine;  looked  down  upon  seven  cities 
buried  one  upon  another  and  no  earthquake  shock  had  dethroned  any  city; 
walked  down  through  the  wdnding  way  made  by  excavation,  and  realized  that 
century  after  century  seven  cities  had  arisen,  proud  in  their  day,  powerless  in 
ours.    From  the  top  of  Mt.  Olivet  the  traveler  looks  down  upon  Jerusalem ;  on 

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Union  Biblical  Seminary 

a  city  which  has  been  dethroned  and  crowned  twenty-seven  times.  Twenty- 
seven  times  the  red  tidal  wave  of  war  has  swept  over  the  glory  of  all  nations. 
But,  even  if  there  be  no  war,  if  there  be  perpetual  peace,  cities  are  disinte- 
grating every  few  years.  Dayton  is  changing  while  you  watch ;  the  city  abides, 
but  the  buildings  go.  Citizens  remain,  but  the  individuals  change.  The 
church  remains,  but  not  the  same  it  was  fifty  years  ago.  Ceaseless  change  is 
written  on  everything;  perpetual  motion  in  all  the  universe  of  God,  without 
haste,  without  rest.  Every  ounce  of  force  awaits  the  call  of  Christ.  "Arise, 
let  us  go  hence." 

A  great  English  preacher  made  the  following  statement:  "The  number  of 
waves  required  to  produce  red  is  39,000  to  the  inch,  or  millions  of  millions  in 
a  second;  yellow,  44,000  to  the  inch,  millions  of  millions  in  a  second.'  So  it  is 
in  all  colors.  To  enable  you  to  see  a  red  rose  it  takes  millions  of  millions  of 
ether  waves  to  break  upon  your  eyes  every  second.  What  a  restless  universe ! 
It  is  not  only  true,  of  the  dead  earth  beneath  our  feet,  but  of  the  living  pil- 
grimage of  men.  The  man  who  struck  the  key-note  of  pure  and  undefiled  re- 
ligion was  a  pilgrim  and  a  stranger ;  he  dwelt  in  tents ;  but  he  dwelt  in  a  city 
whose  Maker  was  God. 

We  come  to  Christ,  the  High  Priest  of  our  vision,  who  says,  "Come  unto 
me,  ye  who  are  weary  and  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  He  cannot 
give  what  he  has  not.  His  is  a  rest  of  faith  in  God  and  the  perpetual  motion 
of  men.  "Take  my  yoke  upon  you."  I  see  the  plow;  I  see  the  straining 
muscles;  I  see  the  bowed  neck;  I  smell  the  turning  earth.  "Take  my  yoke 
upon  you  and  learn  of  me,  for  my  yoke  is  easy" — but  it  is  a  yoke,  not  a  ham- 
mock. "My  burden  is  light,"  but  it  is  a  burden,  not  a  chariot.  "I  came  that 
ye  might  have  light  and  have  it  more  abundantly,"  and  the  cost  of  life  is 
action — action — action.  The  rest  of  faith  is  for  service,  not  from  service. 
Eaith  without  works  is  dead.  "Work  out  your  own  salvation  with  fear  and 
trembling,  for  it  is  God  that  worketh  in  you."  The  soldier  who  doubts  his 
commander  skulks  his  duty;  the  soldier  who  believes  in  his  captain  follows  him 
to  the  hot  breath  of  death.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  leaven,  which  toils 
by  night  while  you  sleep;  it  is  like  new  wine  in  old  wine-skins,  which  breaks 
its  fetters  and  wins  its  freedom;  like  seed  which  worketh  while  you  sleep, 
organizing  dead  earth  into  living  form.  These  are  the  types  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  into  which  Christ  calls  us  to  service. 

We  come  to  the  upper  room.  No ;  before  that  we  come  to  the  Mount  of 
Transfiguration,  where  the  glory  hurst  forth  for  a  moment  as  the  current 
breaks  through  the  incandescent  light.  Peter  said,  "It  is  good  for  us  to 
abide  here;  let  us  build  three  tabernacles";  and  the  transfigured  Christ 
veiled  his  face.  We  come  now  to  the  upper  room  on  Mount  Zion,  within  the 
city  walls.  Christ  turns  the  searchlight  of  history  on  the  distant  past,  and, 
as  the  light  settles,  we  find  a  nation  without  rest;  eager  millions  standing 
under  the  portals  of  blood-stained  lintels  waiting,  and  at  the  midnight  hour 
the  gate  is  lifted  and  the  stream  of  life  goes  surging  out,  never  to  rest  again; 
and  in  that  upper  room  the  Master  of  rest  is  the  only  one  that  rests  not. 
Then  follow  the  matchless  words  of  his  wonderful  prayer.  He  lays  bare  the 
very  heart  of  God;  he  parts  the  veil,  and,  standing  as  the  High  Priest,  he 
communes  with  God  and  teaches  how  to  pray  by  example;  and,  as  the  dis- 

32 


Bible  Conference  Addresses 

ciples   settle  back,   satisfied  with   the  remarkable  truth  and   the  wonderful 
prayer,  he  speaks  to  them  one  sentence:     "Arise,  let  us  go  hence."     There  is 
no  place  of  rest  for  the  highest  type  of  living.     Down  from    Zion's    height, 
across  the  bridge  that  binds  the  ages  of  Zion,  \mder  the  platform  against 
which  the  great  temple  rests,  out  through  St.  Stephen's  Gate  to_  the  Geth- 
semane  where  the  most  awful  agony  of  the  centuries  was — that  is  what  he 
went  to.     One  hour  the  disciples  were  bending  impatiently  forward  to  catch 
the  message,  and  the  next  hour  the  same  disciples  were  so  far  forgetful  as  to  be 
asleep;    one   hour   the   disciples   were   listening   with  bated  breath   while   he 
communes  with  God,  and  in  the  next  hour  asleep,  while  he  sweats,  as  it  were, 
great  drops  of  blood.     Out  from  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  of  agony  and 
struggle,  came  the  words,  "Arise,  let  us  go  hence."     To  Pilate's  palace,  to 
look  into  the  hard  face  of  the  Romans,  and  into  the  harder  face  of  Jewish 
cruelty,  to  be  crowned  with  thorns,  to  be  spit  upon,  to  be  clad  in  purple 
mockery,  to  be  scourged  until  the  muscles  quiver.     Then,  "Arise,  let  us  go 
hence."     Under  the  crushing  weight  of  the  cross  to  meet  the  great  Lord's 
altar  stairs  that  slope  through  darkness  up  toward  God.     Nailed  to  the  cross, 
rejected  of  earth,  the  earth  shudders  and  the  sun  veils  her  face.     That  is 
what  he  went  to  from  the  upper  chamber  of  peace,  for  the  world's  redemp- 
tion— went  to  a  breaking  heart;  and  then  they  take  the  broken  body  down 
and  lay  it  in  Joseph's  tomb.    "Arise,  let  us  go  hence,"  for  even  death  cannot 
rest,   and  the  angel  comes,  lest  he  forget,  rolls   away    the    stone,   and  _  God 
speaks  the  word  and  he  comes  forth  the  resurrection  and  the  life,  with  a 
passion  for  service  that  he  had  never  known,  unmanacled  by  the  flesh,  to 
work   the   world's   redemption,    appearing   and   disappearing   for   forty   days. 
Then,  standing  on  the  stepping-stone  of  Olivet,  "I  must  arise  and  go  hence." 
Then  the  ten  days  passed,  and  the  pierced  palms  turned  to  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost;  pours  upon  the  hard  world  the  gift  of  God's  life  which  never 
touched  a  soul  yet  to  put  it  to  sleep,  but  is  as  a  mighty  rushing  wind  that 
seizes  men  and  makes  them  tools  in  the  hands  of  God ;  and  the  risen  Christ 
stands  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  ever  living  to  make  intercession  for  us — 
head  over  all  things,  and  now  the  church;  head  of  the  Roman  Empire;  head 
of  civilization;  head  of  China;  head  of  the  British  Empire;  head  of  Japan 
and  the  American  Republic;  head  over  all  things  in  the  church,  formulating 
a  new  civilization.     Lift  thine  eyes  to  John's  revelation  of  the  things  to  see 
in  heaven.     Great  agencies  are  marshalling  in  mighty  array.     Then  Christ 
comes  to  the  church  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  sends  the  fire  of  his  light  along 
the  insidated  wire.     "Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel;"  "Lo, 
I  am  with  you  alway,"  etc.    The  world  is  the  field.    "Go  ye  into  all  the  world, 
and  preach  the  gospel."     The  Holy  Ghost  is  brooding  over  a  redeemed  world. 
To   be   a  member  of   the  body   of   Christ   is   to   be   controlled   through   and 
through  with  the  life  of  Christ.     To-night  at  dinner  I  sat  with  friends  and 
ate  meat  and  bread  and  vegetables.     This  was  all  dead  matter;  but  within  a 
year  it  will  be  transformed  into  the  energy  of  Christian  service.     To  be  a 
member  of  the  body  of  Christ  is  to  have  the  red  life-blood  of  Christ  throbbing 
through  your  arteries. 

"Arise,  let  us  go  hence."    Hence  to  your  Mount  of  Transfiguration;  hence 
to  the  upper  room  of  communion,  to  prayer  and  marvelous  truth.     Just  out- 

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Unio7i  Biblical  Seminary 

side  the  closed  door  awaits  your  Garden  of  Gethsemane ;  outside  of  Geth- 
semane  awaits  your  Pilate's  palace,  your  city  of  Golgotha;  beyond  your  res- 
urrection, the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  ^,    .       .  j  •     ^. 

All  the  life  and  power  and  energy  of  Jesus  Christ  is  wrapped  up  m  the 
life  that  is  a  credit  to  him.  Rest  in  faith;  rest  in  faith  for  service.  Oh,  how 
I  can  work  for  the  man  I  believe  in !  My  rest  is  m  my  confidence  m  him, 
not  in  substituting  laziness.  So  Christ  comes  to  you,  my  brother  and,  ever- 
more  as  he  looks  into  your  face  is  the  sentence,  "Arise,  let  us  go  hence. 

I  remember  when  I  was  getting  my  education  1  went  from  a  store  m  JNew 
York  to  a  boarding  school  in  Connecticut.  I  had  not  looked  into  a  book  for 
six  or  seven  years,  but  at  the  end  of  two  years  of  bitter  work  I  had  gotten  so 
I  could  read  Latin  and  do  a  great  deal  in  mathematics.  Then  I- wanted  to 
go  back  to  my  boarding  school  to  have  an  easy  time,  but  the  call  came, 
"Arise  let  us  go  hence."  So  I  came  to  the  university  life,  and,  after  four 
years  of  strenuous  struggle  there,  T  came  to  the  point  I  could  master  book 
after  book,  I  was  ready  for  a  rest;  but  the  university  turned  her  back  on  me 
and  said  "Arise,  let  us  go  hence."  So  T  went  to  the  seminary,  and  when  1 
could  master  theology  and  exegesis,  the  theological  faculty  shut  me  out  of 
doors  and  said,  "Arise,  go  hence."  That  is  the  lesson  of  life.  So  it  is  with 
human  life.  So  it  is  with  spiritual  life.  It  seems  to  be  a  bitter  ordeal  through 
which  the  church  is  to  struggle  for  the  keeping  of  the  Word  of  God.  Thank 
God  that  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God  will  not  let  you  sleep. 

"Arise,  let  us  go  hence."  It  is  the  call  of  Christ  to  his  church.  My  breth- 
ren the  one  thing  I  dread  inconceivably  more  than  anything  else  is  that  the 
time  may  come  in  my  life  when  Christ  shall  pass  me  by  and  shall  no  more 
say  "Arise,  let  us  go  hence,"  because  I  have  reached  the  point  when  I  am 
not' worth  urging.  I  had  rather  die  first.  And,  wherever  you  and  I  are  called, 
my  brethren  in  the  ministry,  the  Master  himself  comes  to  us  always  and 
calls  "Arise,  let  us  go  hence."  Wherever  the  Master  calls,  there  by  the  cross 
of  God  I  call  follow  and  suffer.  O  infinite  God,  lift  upon  us  the  light  of  thy 
countenance.  Fill  us  with  the  dynamic  energy  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
throw  us  into  the  far-flung  battle  line,  into  the  front  of  the  struggle,  for 
Christ's  sake.     Amen. 

Song,  by  the  congregation,  "Stand  up,  stand  up  for  Jesus,  ye  children  of 

the  Cross." 

Benediction   by   Doctor   Gifford:      May    Christ's    mercy   and    peace     abide 

with  us.  ..... 

Chart,  ♦'What  Money  Will  Accomplish." 

Weekly                                              In  a  Year  In  a  Generation 

%  .15  will  evangelize 4  heathen  or 128 

.25  will  evangelize 6  heathen  or 214 

.50  will  evangelize 13  heathen  or 429 

1.00  will  evangelize 26  heathen  or 858 

2.00  will  evangelize 52  heathen  or 1716 

5.00  will  evangelize 130  heathen  or 4290 

10.00  will  evangelize 260  heathen  or 8580 

20.00  will  evangelize 520  heathen  or 17160 

30.00  will  evangelize 780  heathen  or 25740 

'  34 


Bible  Conference  Addresses 


PKAY 


-^ 


-^^  G( 


PAY 

EVERY  ONE  WORKING 


EVERY  ONE 
G 


JE     ,^ 
IVING  ^ 


>^^  EVERY 
",J*     WEEK 


AT  LEAST  x'^ 

35 


Union  Biblical  Seminary 


Different  Ways  of  Hearing. 

C A RELESS  1  H ALF-HeABTED  ^ 

VNo  Result  V  Unproductive 

Indifferent  J  Worldly  J 


Pretentious  I 

>  Temporary 
Emotional  ) 


Honest  I  Large  and 

^  f  Abiding 

Obedient  J 


36 


Bible  Conference  Addresses 


^aturliap  aborning:. 


Saturday,  May  5,  1906. 
The  Bible  Conference  convened  at  9:00  a.m.  by  the  singing  of  the  songs, 
"No,  not  one,"  and  "There  is  power  in  the  blood." 

Address  by  J.  Campbell  White. 

Ch n'stia n   Stt wa rJs/tip. 

In  any  question  affecting  the  development  of  Christianity  or  the  establish- 
ment of  the  kingdom  of  God,  or  any  other  question  on  which  it  speaks,  an 
ounce  of  Bible  is  worth  a  ton  of  anything  else.  I  had  this  illustrated  in  my 
experience  frequently  in  India  when  I  worked  among  non-Christians.  I  have 
seen  it  do  in  a  minute  what  hours  of  argument  failed  to  do;  and  as  a  demon- 
stration of  the  supernatural  character  of  the  word  of  God,  I  have  not  had  any- 
thing that  equaled  it.  I  could  talk  to  a  Hindoo  or  Mohammedan  for  hours  to 
get  him  to  see  things,  and  finally  a  single  shaft  from  the  word  of  God  seemed 
to  overcome  his  obstacles  and  pierce  him  to  the  very  center.  In  all  the  ques- 
tions affecting  our  relation  to  God,  in  the  giving  of  ovir  life  first  of  all,  and 
then  all  that  we  possess,  we  need  to  constantly  study  for  ourselves  the  Word 
of  God.  This  morning  I  am  going  to  give  you  quite  a  number  of  passages 
that  I  think  might  be  helpful  to  have  jotted  down  to  use  some  time  in  the 
congregations  to  which  you  speak. 

The  extension  of  God  throughovit  the  world  demands  many  times  the 
amount  of  money  that  God  is  receiving  for  that  work.  It  is  not  a  whit  less 
true  for  the  development  of  Christian  character  to  the  plane  where  God  wants 
to  bring  it.  We  need  to  give.  It  is  utterly  impossible  for  the  church  of  Christ 
to  become  what  he  wants  it  to  become  without  putting  itself  at  his  disposal. 
One  of  the  perils  of  the  church  is  the  peril  of  not  learning  to  hold  ourselves  and 
our  possessions  at  God's  disposal.     There  is  no  telling  what  we  are  coming  to. 

The  only  way  the  church  can  be  saved  through  and  through  is  by  putting 
itself  and  its  possessions  at  God's  disposal.  All  God's  plans  fit  perfectly.  It 
is  necessary  that  we  give  money  that  his  work  may  go  on.  God  would  not 
have  made  it  necessary  unless  it  were  absolutely  essential  to  life.  He  knew 
about  the  gold  mines  of  California  and  Alaska,  and  he  might  have  opened 
them  for  the  missionaiy  treasurers  if  he  had  wanted  to.  If  he  had  wanted  it 
done  that  way,  he  himself  would  have  given  it;  but  he  wants  us  to  give,  and  we 
cannot  become  what  God  wants  us  to  be  unless  we  do  it.  He  wants  us  to  do  it 
gladly. 

Yesterday  we  considered  the  principle  of  proportion  in  giving.  This  is  vital 
and  essential ;  but  in  this  morning's  service  I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  some 

37 


Union  Biblical  Seyninary 

other  Scriptural  principles.  First  of  all,  remember  that  money  is  a  means  of 
service.  You  might  put  that  down  for  a  number  of  texts.  Money  is  a  means  of 
serving  God.  We  recognize  that  God  wants  us  to  put  in  all  the  power  that  we 
have,  and  all  the  service  of  which  we  are  capable.  I  am  very  glad  for  the  defini- 
tion which  Doctor  Gilford  gave  us  of  money :  "Talent  multiplied  by  time  equals 
money."  Both  your  time  and  your  money  belong  to  God.  A  man  after  work- 
ing a  week  goes  home  with  $10  in  his  pocket.  He  goes  home  with  a  week's 
worth  of  himself.  If  I  were  to  say  to  you  people  that  a  new  discovery  had 
been  brought  to  light  by  which  you  could  go  over  to  Africa  and  China  in  half 
an  hour,  spend  a  day,  and  come  back  in  half  an  hour,  and  that  you  could  then 
go  back  to  your  work,  some  would  be  inclined  to  do  it.  That  discovery  has  not 
been  made  yet  in  an  airship,  but  has  been  made  in  another  way.  1  was  very 
glad  for  what  Professor  Clippinger  said  concerning  the  investment  of  life. 
It  is  not  money  we  want ;  it  is  life.  How  much  does  God  want  us  to  put  at  his 
disposal?  I  was  supported  ten  years  in  India  by  one  man.  He  was  very 
anxious  to  do  everything  he  could  to  extend  the  kingdom  of  God  over  the 
world.  His  belief  is  that  the  Lord  is  going  to  come  back  into  this  world  as 
soon  as  he  can,  and  his  coming  depends  upon  our  obedience.  He  wants  to  see 
him  come  back  in  his  own  lifetime.  He  may  come  to-day.  I  am  not  sure.  I 
do  not  know  what  is  necessary  in  order  that  he  may  come  back.  This  gospel 
shall  be  preached  in  all  the  world.  I  believe  it  depends  upon  our  obedience  in 
spreading  this  gospel  over  all  the  world;  in  wanting  to  have  Christ's  approval 
when  he  does  come.  The  man  who  paid  all  my  salarj^  while  I  was  in  India  I 
found  out  was  supporting  a  half  dozen  other  people  in  other  parts  of  the  world. 
Suppose  he  had  found  out  at  any  time  when  I  was  out  in  India  that  I  was 
wasting  my  time.  He  wovild  have  gotten  some  one  else.  I  was  foolish  enough 
to  think  he  expected  me  to  do  all  that  I  coiald.  In  other  words,  I  did  not  sup- 
pose that  God  would  be  satisfied  with  60,  75,  90  per  cent,  of  my  power,  but 
really  wanted  me  to  give  100  per  cent,  of  my  power  to  him.  I  came  back  to  my 
country,  and  am  now  living  in  the  midst  of  a  Christian  community,  and  have 
a  family  under  Christian  surroundings.  Has  my  obligation  dropped  down  to 
50  per  cent.  ?  Does  God  only  want  one-half  as  much  as  when  I  was  in  India  ? 
Or  does  he  still  want  me  to  give  100  per  cent.  ?  Is  there  any  particular  differ- 
ence between  you  and  me  in  the  world  ?  What  per  cent,  of  our  power  for 
service  does  God  expect?  I  wish  a  good  many  people  would  think  that  thing 
through  and  then  decide  honestly  what  proportion  they  are  actually  giving. 
Head  the  passage,  T.  Tim.  (i  :17,  18 :  "Charge  them  that  are  rich  in  this  world, 
that  they  be  not  highminded,  nor  trust  in  uncertain  riches,  but  in  the  living 
God,  who  giveth  us  richly  all  the  things  to  enjoy;  that  they  do  good,  that  they 
be  rich  in  good  works,  ready  to  distribute,  willing  to  communicate."  It  be- 
longs to  us  all  to  do  good  with  financial  power  as  well  as  every  other  power. 

Turn  to  I.  John  3  :17.  He  says  we  ought  to  lay  down  our  lives  for  the  breth- 
ren. "Whoso  hath  this  world's  good,  and  seeth  his  brother  have  need,  and 
shutteth  \ip  his  bowels  of  compassion  from  him,"  how  can  the  Jove  of  God 
abide  in  that  kind  of  a  man?  It  is  the  strongest  way  God  has  of  saying  it 
cannot  be  there.    It  is  a  very  searching  fact,  but  it  is  a  fact. 

Matthew  6:19  to  21:  Here  is  a  definite  command.  "Lay  not  up  for  your- 
selves treasures  upon  earth,  where  moth  and  dust  doth  corrupt,  and  where 

38 


Bible  Conference  Addresses 

thieves  break  through  and  steal:  but  lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures  in  heaven, 
where  neither  moth  nor  dust  doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves  do  not  break 
through  nor  steal :  for  where  your  treasure  is,  there  will  your  heart  be  also." 
How  can  we  do  that  without  putting  our  personality,  represented  by  our 
ruoney,  at  God's  disposal,  for  the  redemption  of  men  who  will  ever  rejoice  with 
us  in  the  eternal  fellowship  with  God  ? 

Look  at  Luke  16  :9 :  "Make  to  yourselves  friends  by  means  of  the  mammon 
of  unrighteousness;  that,  when  it  shall  fail,  they  may  receive  you  into  the 
eternal  tabernacles"  (R.  V.).  What  does  that  mean?  Doctor  Goucher,  of 
Baltimore,  at  a  great  public  meeting  in  Cleveland,  said  that  a  man  he  knew 
invested  $100,000  in  one  district  in  India,  and  as  a  result  of  that  investment 
50,000  men  and  women  had  united  with  the  church ;  only  two  dollars  to  bring 
each  man  to  an  open  confession  of  Christ.  Surely  thousands  of  these  people 
will,  in  the  eternal  habitation,  welcome  and  express  their  gratitude  to  the  man 
who  made  that  investment.  Is  not  that  making  friends  by  means  of  the  mam- 
mon of  unrighteousness,  that,  when  that  shall  fail,  they  shall  receive  you  in  the 
eternal  habitation?  There  the  thing  is  stated  in  black  and  white,  as  the  thing 
to  do  with  financial  power. 

Look  at  Romans  10:13:  "Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord 
shall  be  saved.  How  then  shall  they  call  on  him  in  whom  they  have  not  be- 
lieved ?  and  how  shall  they  believe  in  him  of  whom  they  have  not  heard  ?  .  .  . 
How  shall  they  preach  except  they  be  sent  ?"  Are  we  sending  the  men  who  will 
preach  the  messages  that  the  people  may  be  saved  ?  It  is  God's  argument,  not 
mine.    Money  is  a  means  of  service. 

See  I.  Tim.  6  :7 :  "For  we  brought  nothing  into  this  world,  and  it  is  certain 
we  can  carry  nothing  out.  And  having  food  and  raiment  let  us  be  here- 
with content.  But  they  that  will  be  rich  fall  into  temptation  and  a  snare,  and 
into  many  foolish  and  hurtfid  lusts,  which  drown  men  in  destruction  and  per- 
dition. For  the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  kinds  of  evil:  which  while 
some  coveted  after,  they  have  erred  from  the  faith,  and  pierced  themselves 
through  with  many  sorrows."  About  the  risk  of  living  for  that  kind  of  an 
object,  our  Lord  went  to  the  heart  of  this  problem.  How  shall  they  that  have 
riches  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God? 

Deut.  17:17:  "Neither  shall  he  greatly  multiply  to  himself  silver  and  gold." 
Eccl.  5  :13 :  "There  is  a  sore  evil  which  I  have  seen  under  the  sun,  namely, 
riches  kept  for  the  owners  thereof  to  their  hurt."  It  is  a  good  thing  to  warn 
young  men  especially  of  the  danger  of  living  this  kind  of  a  life.  Giving  is  a 
grace.  Further  than  that,  it  is  a  means  of  grace  and  the  measure  of  grace. 
We  will  all  realize  the  truth  of  Doctor  McClaren's  striking  statement,  "Giving 
is  essential  to  the  completeness  of  Christian  character.  It  is  the  crowning 
grace,  because  it  is  the  practical  manifestation  of  the  highest  excellences.  It 
is  the  result  of  sympathy,  unselfishness,  of  contact  with  Christ,  of  the  drinking 
in  of  his  spirit."  There  is  a  good  deal  of  reason  for  regarding  giving  not  only 
as  a  grace,  but  as  the  crowning  grace.  God  loveth  a  cheerful  giver.  Why? 
I  suppose  because  that  man  is  becoming  godly.  When  Christ  laid  down  his 
life,  the  special  point  to  be  brought  oiit  is  that  he  did  it  cheerfully.  When  we 
lay  down  our  possessions  cheerfvilly,  we  are  doing  as  he  did.  God  loves  a  cheer- 
ful giver.    He  loves  to  see  his  own  image  reproduced  in  us. 

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Union  Biblical  Seminary 

Prov.  11 :  25 :  "The  liberal  soul  shall  be  made  fat :  and  he  that  watereth  shall 
be  watered  also  himself."  And  II.  Cor.  9:6:  "But  this  I  say,  He  which  soweth 
sparingly  shall  reap  also  sparingly;  and  he  which  soweth  bountifully  shall 
reap  also  bountifully."  Also  Malachi  3 :10 :  "Bring  ye  all  the  tithes  into  the 
storehouse,  that  there  may  be  meat  in  mine  house,  and  prove  me  now  here- 
with, saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  if  I  will  not  open  you  the  windows  of  heaven, 
and  pour  you  out  a  blessing,  that  there  shall  not  be  room  to  receive  it."  It  is 
indeed  true  that  a  man  can  purchase,  if  he  is  willing  to  piit  his  money  in, 
great  joy  and  blessing  from  God.    "Give,  and  it  shall  be  given  unto  you." 

Luke  6  :38 :  "Give,  and  it  shall  be  given  unto  you ;  good  measure,  pressed 
down,  and  shaken  together,  and  running  over,  shall  men  give  into  your  bosom. 
For  with  the  same  measure  that  ye  mete  withal  it  shall  be  measured  to  you 
again."  I.  John  3:17:  "But  whoso  hath  this  world's  good,  and  seeth  his 
brother  have  need,  and  shutteth  up  his  bowels  of  compassion  from  him,  how 
dwelleth  the  love  of  God  in  him?"  The  measure  of  God's  love  will  be  the 
measure  of  our  open-handedness.  What  does  this  suggest  ?  If  giving  is  a  grace, 
if  it  is  a  means  of  grace,  if  it  is  the  measure  of  grace,  is  it  not  important  that 
all  members  of  our  congregations  be  developed  in  this  as  a  vital  point  of  their 
spiritual  life?  The  whole  thought  of  God  in  appealing  for  money  is  that  men 
may  be  in  their  right  relation  to  him;  they  must  give  to  express  the  love  which 
they  ought  to  have  for  him.  If  that  is  so,  when  we  ask  for  money  we  are  not 
beggars,  but  benefactors;  so  let  us  have  no  more  talk  of  begging  for  money. 
When  we  get  a  man  in  the  right  attitude,  we  are  doing  him  possibly  the  great- 
est service  we  can  render  hira.  In  our  church  it  used  to  be  thought  that  the 
head  of  the  family  could  do  the  whole  thing ;  but  a  man  might  just  as  well  try 
to  do  all  the  praying  for  the  family  as  to  think  he  can  give  for  all.  The  grace 
of  giving  is  just  as  important  in  the  development  of  Christian  character  as 
prayer.  I  have  five  little  children  that  go  with  their  offering,  and  they  would 
feel  just  as  comfortable  going  without  their  shoes  on  as  not  to  go  with  their 
gift.  It  is  not  a  hard  thing  for  them  to  give.  Every  child  in  the  homes  of  our 
families  ought  to  be  taught  in  the  same  way.  Every  reasonable  means  ought 
to  be  used  to  lead  evei-y  one  to  give.  We  ought  not  to  be  satisfied  when  the 
accounts  are  square.  That  is  the  smallest  end  of  it.  The  question  is.  Are  the 
people  getting  the  benefit  of  giving  as  the  result  of  exercising  this  grace  ?  The 
officers  of  the  church  ought  to  know  to  a  certainty  just  what  the  people  are 
giving,  and  just  what  ones  are  not  giving.  They  owe  it  to  the  people  that  they 
should  exhaust  all  reasonable  means  to  get  them  to  give  systematically  and 
proportionately. 

What  is  the  best  method  ?  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that,  after  proper 
public  instruction  has  been  given  in  this  matter,  the  best  method  is  for  a  com- 
mittee of  three  to  go  to  absolutely  every  member  of  the  congregation  and  ask 
for  a  weekly  offering  for  the  whole  work  of  God.  We  used  to  be  satisfied  by 
just  having  somebody  go  to  everybody.  It  is  a  great  deal  better  than  simply 
passing  the  hat  in  the  congregation — that  is,  the  coming  face  to  face  with 
some  other  Christian.  After  a  while  we  found  out  that  two  persons  asking  the 
others  was  better  than  one;  but  for  a  canvass  of  this  kind  three  are  a  great 
deal  better  than  two.  The  secret  of  the  success  of  the  three  is  this :  If  you 
send  one  man  to  another  for  money,  he  may  or  may  not  succeed  in  getting 

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Bible  Conference  Addresses 

anything ;  if  you  send  two  men  to  the  same  man,  they  will  get  something ;  and, 
if  you  send  three  men  to  that  same  man,  they  will  get  whatever  they  ask  for. 
If  three  men  come  to  your  house,  they  are  likely  to  get  whatever  they  are  after. 
Why  not  use  common-sense  business  methods? 

Do  not  let  any  one  go  for  the  offering  if  he  says  he  does  not  want  to  be  a 
beggar,  who  does  not  realize  the  dignity  and  divine  character  of  it.  Do  not  let 
him  spoil  the  whole  work  by  going  in  the  spirit  of  a  beggar. 

Is  there  any  divine  authority  for  suggesting  that  the  three  men  go  together? 
"If  you  fail  to  win  your  brother  alone,  take  with  you  one  or  two  others."  How 
many  of  our  congregations  have  had  that  kind  of  a  test?  How*  many  have  been 
canvassed,  including  all- the  children  in  the  homes?  A  committee  of  three 
prayerfully  going  out  to  impress  on  the  people  that  blessing  which  could  not 
come  to  them  unless  they  fulfilled  these  conditions,  you  may  say  is  a  hard 
thing  to  do.  God  does  not  take  an  easy  way  to  accomplish  his  work.  He  would 
have  evangelized  the  world  in  another  way,  if  he  had  wanted  it  to  be  done 
an  easy  way.  You  cannot  take  a  man  to  a  college  and  pour  knowledge  into 
him.  It  is  the  process  that  does  the  business.  You  cannot  make  a  Christian 
in  any  slipshod,  short-cut  way.  No  man  can  engage  in  this  work  without  far 
greater  blessings  coming  into  his  life  than  the  amount  of  energy  invested. 

Of  course,  it  will  take  time.  Nothing  of  any  profit  comes  to  the  kingdom  of 
God  but  has  time,  energy,  and  life-blood.  The  question  is,  whether  we  are 
willing  to  put  our  life  into  it.  There  are  fourteen  millions  of  Sabbath-school 
children  in  the  United  States.  If  each  one  would  give  five  cents  each  week,  it 
would  make  thirty-six  millions  of  dollars.  The  whole  church  is  giving  some- 
thing like  seven  millions  to  foreign  missions.  We  are  trifling  with  the  whole 
job  yet.  I  asked  yesterday  for  a  statement  of  just  how  much  this  denomina- 
tion is  giving  to  the  whole  work  of  God,  abroad  and  at  home,  and  I  have  here 
a  statement  from  Mr.  Whitney.  It  totals  $200,000 — average  per  member,  77 
cents  a  year  for  all  missionary  purposes.  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  exhausts 
the  possibilities?     Is  there  not  an  opportunity  for  more  thorough  cultivation? 

I  want  to  call  attention  to  another  great  spiritual  principle  here — the  crime 
of  covetousness.  Generally  when  a  man  is  covetous  we  say  he  is  close-fisted. 
We  do  not  use  the  terms  the  Bible  does.  We  say  he  is  rather  tight;  rather 
close.  What  does  God  say  about  that  ?  One  of  the  ten  most  important  com- 
mandments is,  "Thou  shalt  not  covet."  In  the  tenth  psalm,  third  verse,  are 
the  words,  "The  covetous,  whom  the  Lord  abhorreth." 

Turn  to  Romans,  first  chapter,  twenty-ninth  verse.  You  cannot  find  any 
list  of  criminals  in  the  New  Testament  with  the  covetovis  man  left  out.  Turn 
over,  if  you  will,  to  I.  Corinthians,  sixth  chapter,  ninth  and  tenth  verses.  The 
tenth  verse  says,  "Nor  tliieves,  nor  covetous,  nor  drunkards,  nor  revilers,  nor 
extortioners,  shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God."  Heligion  with  covetousness 
is  not  consistent  with  Christian  character. 

Turn  to  the  twelfth  chapter  of  Luke,  fifteenth  verse:  "Take  heed  and  be- 
ware of  covetovisness,"  etc.  I  think  we  are  doing  a  very  serious  thing  unless 
we  make  perfectly  clear  to  all  our  members  the  tendency  of  covetousness. 

One  other  thing.  Giving  should  be  as  worship ;  to  be  acceptable  to  God,  we 
cannot  just  put  so  much  money  in  the  treasiiry  of  God;  we  must  put  it  in  in 
the  right  spirit.    See  Prov.  3  :9 ;  Malachi  3  :10. 

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Union  Biblical  Seminary 

Sometimes  the  church  treasury  becomes  short  of  funds.  Some  man  is  to 
collect  money,  if  possible.  He  meets  a  man  on  a  load  of  hay  and  says,  "Here, 
you  are  not  paid  up ;  I  want  you  to  give  me  five  dollars."  If  the  man  gives 
him  the  five  dollars,  i'  is  no  benefit  or  value  to  his  soul.  God  wants  the  thing 
to  be  done  in  the  rigb  •  way,  in  order  that  we  may  get  the  right  profit  out  of  it, 
every  week.  See  passage  I.  Corinthians,  sixteenth  chapter,  second  verse: 
"Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  let  every  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store,  as 
God  hath  prospered  him,"  etc. ;  every  one  to  give  every  week.  I  believe  the 
idea  of  every  one  giving  every  week  is  perfectly  right.  If  we  really  pray  every 
time  we  say,  "Thy  kingdom  come,  thy  will  be  done  in  all  the  world,"  it  will  be 
hard  to  not  give  to  all  the  world.  I  would  a  great  de^il  rather  a  man  who  has 
only  fifty-two  cents  to  give  would  give  one  cent  on  each  Sabbath  than  that  he 
should  give  it  all  at  once.  His  heart  will  be  drawn  out  fifty-two  times,  instead 
of  once.     That  is  the  way  for  spiritual  growth. 

Many  congregations  have  adopted  the  plan  of  a  weekly  offering  to  the  entire 
work  of  God.  You  will  never  solve  your  missionary  problem  unless  you  do 
that.  I  want  to  give  you  a  testimony  of  what  I  have  seen.  I  have  seen  a  can- 
vass made  with  a  committee  of  three,  with  the  result  that  missionary  offerings 
increased  from  fifty  per  cent,  to  several  hundred  per  cent.  I  do  not  think 
you  will  ever  solve  the  problem  until  you  put  it  on  the  weekly  basis.  Ask  the 
congregation  to  make  a  weekly  pledge,  and  every  member  give  some  regular 
amount.  If  your  annual  conference  were  to  approve  certain  estimates 
each  year,  and  by  taking,  as  we  take,  a  weekly  subscription  to  the  whole 
missionary  work,  each  person  would  know  he  was  giving  to  the  whole 
work  in  the  world — every  week  praying,  working,  and  giving  to  the 
whole  woi'ld.  Try  to  get  everything  done  on  the  weekly  subscription 
basis.  Put  an  envelope  into  the  hands  of  every  person,  or  the  best  thing  to  do 
is  to  give  every  one  fifty-tWo  envelopes,  one  for  each  Sabbath  in  the  year,  and 
on  every  envelope  a  niunber  and  the  date.  The  treasurer  keeps  the  account  by 
numbers.  These  envelopes  are  placed  in  a  larger  envelope,  or  rather  a  box, 
and  hung  up  at  home.  My  wife  was  short  of  money  last  month.  Toward  the 
end  of  the  month  she  went  to  pay  up  all  the  weekly  envelopes.  She  found 
there  were  three  empty  envelopes;  she  had  not  paid  for  three  Sabbaths.  In 
that  way  you  know  where  you  are;  you  know  just  what  every  one  has  pledged. 
It  takes  a  little  while  to  work  into  the  habit  of  paying  every  Sabbath,  but  it 
would  not  be  so  easy  to  get  into  tbe  habit  of  paying  on  the  15th  of  each  June, 
or  the  first  Sabbath  of  each  month.  I  cannot  find  any  Scripture  authority  for 
the  first  Sabbath  of  every  month.  I  do  not  thinlv  you  and  I  are  going  to  im- 
prove on  God's  plan.  I  believe  God  has  as  much  business  sense  as  any  one 
else.  When  I  find  a  suggestion  of  God's,  it  has  more  weight  with  me  than  all 
the  bvisiness  men's  on  earth.  If  the  oflicers  of  the  church  are  determined  that 
it  shall  fail,  then  it  generally  fails.  Otherwise,  it  succeeds  marvelously.  The 
plan  will  not  only  multiply  the  offerings,  but  will  multiply  the  spiritual  life, 
which  is  a  definite  proof  that  it  is  the  right  thing. 

One  further  word.  God  not  only  wants  a  tithe,  but  he  wants  all  we  can 
give.  In  regard  to  divine  ownership,  see  Psalm  50:10:  "For  every  beast  of 
the  forest  is  mine,  and  the  cattle  upon  a  thousand'  hills."  Also  Psalm  24 :1 : 
"The  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fulness  thereof;  the  world,  and  they  that 

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Bible  Conference  Addresses 

dwell  therein";  and,  "Ye  are  not  your  own.  Ye  are  bought  with  a  price,"  etc. 
Also,  Acts  4:32:  "Neither  said  any  of  them  that  aught  of  the  things  which 
]\e  possessed  was  his  own ;  but  they  had  all  things  conmion" ;  and  T.  Corin- 
thians 10 :31 :  "Whether  therefore  ye  eat,  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all 
to  the  glory  of  God."  No  one  of  us  is  getting  the  blessing  out  of  his  Chris- 
tian life  unless  actually  making  sacrifices.  I  do  not  believe  God  is  satisfied  with 
our  giving  simply  the  tithe. 

Three  or  four  years  ago  I  learned  an  important  lesson.  I  was  about  to  spend 
a  small  amount  one  day ;  I  don't  know  now  whether  it  was  ten  cents  or  twenty- 
five  cents.  I  do  not  even  remember  the  thing  I  was  going  to  buy.  The  ques- 
tion came  to  me,  "Is  this  the  best  investment  of  this  money?  Do  you  con- 
sider this  is  in  harmony  with  yovir  life  purpose?"  And,  instead  of  buying  the 
thing,  which  was  not  essential,  I  gave  the  money  to  God.  It  did  not  occur  to 
me  that  it  would  ask  itself  again ;  but  the  next  day  the  question  came  up 
again,  "Is  this  the  highest  use  to  which  you  can  put  this  money?"  So  it  came 
to  me  asking  itself  sometimes  several  times  a  day,  and  it  has  been  asking  itself 
ever  since.  I  hope  it  will  go  on  asking  itself.  I  hardly  step  on  a  street  car 
without  asking  myself  whether  it  is  really  wise  economy  to  spend  God's  money 
in  that  way.  In  giving  things  up  for  God  I  discovered  a  sweetness  in  fellow- 
ship with  Christ  such  as  I  had  never  known  before.  I  believe  that  all  Chris- 
tians are  missing  a  great  deal  if  not  deliberately  giving  up  for  Christ's  sake. 
I  believe  he  counts  what  we  do,  and  what  we  do  without,  for  his  sake,  and,  if 
our  love  is  like  his,  I  think  it  will  lead  us  to  say  with  reference  to  every  nickel 
that  we  spend,  "Is  this  the  best  that  we  can  do  with  it?"  I  have  no  right  to 
misuse  God's  money.  It  is  not  a  question  of  how  much  money  I  will  give  to 
God,  but  how  much  I  will  keep  for  myself.  How  much  love  have  we  ?  We  can 
decide  that  by  what  we  are  doing  with  our  possiessions. 

(♦^ 

Prayer. 

Our  divine  Redeemer,  we  thank  thee  for  the  grace  which  made  it  possible 
for  thee,  though  rich,  to  become  poor.  Thanks  be  unto  thee  for  thy  unspeak- 
able gift.  We  pray  we  may  have  the  Christian  spirit  in  our  giving. 
We  pray  that  we  may  not  be  able  to  withhold  anything  from  thee. 
Lord,  has  that  included  all  that  we  control?  Have  we  really  surrendered 
to  thee  ?  Are  we  really  ready  to  go  anywhere  ?  Have  we  piit  down  our  posses- 
sions at  thy  feet  as  a  gift  ?  We  do  not  know  what  thou  wilt  ask  of  us.  Thou 
hast  said,  "Go  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel,"  and  we  have  been 
doing  it  at  the  rate  of  seventy-seven  cents  a  year.  Wilt  thou  forgive  us,  and 
wilt  thou  show  us  how  we  can  do  a  great  deal  better  than  this,  and  that  when 
thovi  dost  make  a  suggestion  to  us  out  of  thy  Word  we  may  take  it  as  final 
authority?  O  Lord,  may  we  learn  of  thee  how  to  do  thy  work.  Thou  hast 
planned  this  whole  thing  from  the  beginning.  Thou  dost  know  the  conditions 
under  which  it  can  be  done  perfectly.  May  we  reject  instantly  everything 
that  is  not  of  thee.  May  we  venture  on  thy  authority  to  do  the  things  thou 
liast  said  we  shall  do,  not  hesitating,  wondering  whether  it  will  work  or  not. 

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Union  Biblical  Seminary 

We  hold  thee  responsible.  We  pray  that  we  may  be  faithful  and  obedient. 
We  thank  thee  for  thy  divine  wisdom  in  solving  the  things  we  could  not  solve 
ourselves.  We  would  be  in  a  terrible  condition  if,  after  looking  up,  we  fail  to 
take  the  way  that  thou  showest  is  the  best  way.  We  pray  that  in  this  matter 
of  love  we  may  give  an  absolute  surrender  to  Jesus  Christ.  Wilt  thou  give  us 
wisdom  as  we  think  over  these  things,  may  new  life  come  unto  us,  and  may  we 
reveal  to  those  to  whom  we  minister  the  thought  that  has  come  to  us  this  day. 
Lord  Jesus,  may  every  heart  abound  in  mercy,  and,  whether  other  people  do 
all  we  think  they  should  do  or  not,  may  every  one  of  us  give  account  of  him- 
self. May  every  one  act  independently,  and  may  our  purpose  be  to  do  hon- 
estly with  our  whole  heart  the  thing  God  makes  clear  ought  to  be  done,  as  in 
that  way  thou  wilt  work  through  us  in  a  far  more  mighty  way  than  we  dared 
hope  for,  that  thy  will  may  be  done  all  over  America.  We  thank  thee  that  thou 
dost  love  every  man  as  well  as  any  other.  May  we  give  every  7iian  a  fair 
chance.  May  our  whole  thought  be  to  press  the  whole  kingdom  into  the  whole 
world,  without  any  friction,  because  of  absolute  unity  of  heart  with  thee. 
What  an  infinite  honor  it  is  that  we  are  lo  be  thy  channels  to  accomplish  thy 
mighty  purposes.  Fill  us  with  a  sweet  sense  of  the  divine  nature  of  our 
work,  expecting  absolute  victory.    We  ask  it  all  in  Jesus'  name.    Amen. 


44 


Bible  Conference  Addresses 


featurbap  jafternoon. 


Saturday,  May  5,  1906. 

Bible  Conference  convened  at  2:30  p.m.  Song,  "Thou  thinkest,  Lord,  of 
me,"  followed  by  the  Arion  Quartet. 

Mr.  White  read  from  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  John :  "I  am  the  true  vine, 
and  my  Father  is  the  husbandman.  Every  branch  in  me  that  beareth  not 
fruit  he  taketh  away :  and  every  branch  that  beareth  fruit,  he  purgeth  it,  that 
it  may  bring  forth  more  fruit,"  etc. 

I  had  a  letter  from  a  friend  in  London  a  few  weeks  ago,  who  was  inclined  to 
be  very  careless  in  her  religious  life,  who  said,  "I  am  anxious  to  have  the 
poetry  of  life  now;  will  be  willing  to  have  the  prose  after  while."  That  is  a 
fearful  misunderstanding  of  what  spiritual  life  ought  to  mean.  There  is  no 
spiritual  life  apart  from  Him.  In  the  revival  in  India,  people  were  so  hilarious 
with  spiritual  joy  that  they  almost  went  into  ecstasy.  The  crowd  of  lepers 
there,  with  hands  and  parts  of  their  bodies  dropping  off  (they  could  not  stand 
by  themselves),  were  leaning  \ip  against  the  wall  and  joining  in  overflowing 
praise  to  God — such  a  scene  as  could  not  be  described.  We  do  not  know 
how  much  joy  God  wants  to  put  into  our  lives.  "This  is  my  commandment, 
that  ye  love  one  another  as  I  have  loved  you."  Love  determines  what  we  are 
and  what  we  do.  Tell  me  how  much  any  one  loves,  and  I  will  tell  you  how 
much  he  will  do  every  time.  "Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a  man 
lay  down  his  life  for  his  friend."  "Ye  are  my  friends,  if  you  do  the  things  I 
command  you." 

Read  from  Ezekiel,  thirty-third  chapter,  seventh  verse:  "So  thou,  O  son 
of  man,  I  have  set  thee  a  watchman  unto  the  house  of  Israel;  therefore  thou 
shalt  hear  the  word  at  my  mouth,  and  warn  them  from  me."  Certainly  these 
passages  emphasize  the  great  obligation  that  rests  upon  us,  upon  every  one,  to 
do  the  thing  God  wants  done,  in  the  warning  of  the  wicked  everywhere.  Can 
anything  be  more  clear  and  plain  than  these  teachings  of  the  word  of  God? 
Are  we  doing  it  ?    May  we  have  a  season  of  prayer. 

Prayer  by  J.  Campbell  White. 

Search  us,  oh,  we  pray  Thee,  by  the  standards  of  thy  word,  so  we  may  see 
what  thou  dost  expect  of  us,  and  show  us  any  particulars  in  which  we  are  dis- 

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appointing-  thee.  Lord,  save  us  from  the  mistake  of  planning  our  lives  wrong 
and. coming  out  in  the  end  disappointed.  We  are  sure  that  in  the  end  nothing 
will  satisfy  us  that  does  not  also  satisfy  thee.  Help  us,  we  pray  thee,  to  live 
with  a  great  purpose  to  satisfy  thee;  to  let  thy  will  have  right  of  way  in  our 
lives;  for  it  is  the  wisest  will  and  most  loving  will  in  the  universe.  Thou  hast 
made  no  law  for  us  that  is  not  in  our  own  interests;  and  only  as  we  come  into 
obedience  to  thee  can  we  possibly  enter  into  those  great  realms  of  life  and  use- 
fulness to  which  thou  art  calling  us  all.  Sometimes  we  have  misinterpreted 
thee.  We  thank  thee,  0  Lord,  for  thinking  thus  of  our  future.  Sometimes  we 
have  thought  we  must  stay  away  from  thee  in  order  to  have  a  good  time.  We 
thank  thee  thou  hast  overflowing  joy  for  us,  the  overflowing  joy  of  God,  if  we 
will  live  in  fellowship  with  thee  and  share  thy  purpose.  We  thank  thee  that  in 
thy  presence  there  is  fullness  of  joy. 

Help  us,  we  pray  thee,  to  live  in  the  heavenly  places  while  here  on  earth  as 
pilgrims  and  strangers  who  are  not  settling  down  for  eternity,  but  are  on  a 
journey,  doing  what  God  wants  done  and  looking  forward  to  an  eternal  life  of 
service  in  thy  kingdom.  We  thanls;  thee  there  are  so  many  things  we  can  do 
now;  so  many  things  thou  hast  trusted  us  to  do.  It  is  an  infinite  privilege 
and  honor,  surely,  to  be  sent  out  with  the  message  of  God's  love  to  the  world. 
What  a  privilege  it  is  to  act  as  thine  ambassadors ;  to  think  thou  hast  a  specific 
place  for  us  that  no  one  else  can  fill  so  well.  Every  one  of  us  has  his  place. 
We  thank  thee  thou  art  great  enough  to  plan  so  minutely  for  every  life.  May 
every  one  of  us  find  thy  plan;  may  thy  church  find  thy  plan  and  yield  to 'it. 
To  this  end  may  every  one  of  us  obey  thee;  obey  to  the  limit  of  our  light;  even 
attempt  to  do  the  things  that  seem  utterly  impossible  because  we  dare  to 
reckon  on  God. 

We  pray  that  we  may  remind  ourselves  again,  as  thou  hast  told  us,  that 
apart  from  thee  we  can  do  nothing,  but  that  nothing  is  impossible  to  God, 
and  nothing  is  impossible  to  him  that  believeth;  and  so  wilt  thou  help  us  to 
an  overmastering  faith  that  will  remove  mountains  of  difiiculty,  that  works 
miracles,  that  dares  to  go  ahead  in  the  path  of  duty,  expecting  God  to  do  his 
part. 

O  God,  give  us  the  open-heartedness,  the  sincerity,  that  will  enable  us  to  be- 
lieve in  thee.  Help  us  to  spend  enough  time  in  thy  presence  to  get  acquainted 
with  thee.  Then  we  shall  trust  thee.  Then  we  will  be  worthy  of  our  places. 
Many  times  things  come  in  between  thee  and  us,  and  our  faith  grows  dim  and 
our  lives  weak  and  powerless.  Facing  the  future,  may  we  measure  our  possi- 
bilities this  afternoon.  Help  us  to  see  thee.  Give  us  the  strength  to  solve 
these  problems,  and  help  us  to  carry  the  burdens  too  heavy  for  us  to  carry 
alone. 

Wilt  thou,  we  pray  thee,  above  everything  else,  lead  us  into  utter  obedience 
and  trust  in  God  ?  Surcharge  o\ir  lives  with  God's  presence,  that  there  may 
flow  from  us  rivers  of  living  water. 

We  thank  thee  for  thy  presence  with  us  in  previous  sessions.  We  do  not 
want  to  go  through  without  thy  leadership.  Wilt  thou  guide  us  in  all  speak- 
ing this  day?  Disappoint  us  not,  we  pray  thee.  Help  us  to  have  the  faith 
that  comes  from  thee — a  great  uplifting  of  the  soul  and  outlook  upon  life, 
and  power  from  on  high  for  the  work  that  thou  hast  given  us.    So  help  us  and 

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Bible  Conferenee  Addresses 

guide  us  and  impel  us  to  do  the  things  this  afternoon  that  are  in  thy  plan  for 
us  on  this  occasion;  and  wilt  thou  make  us  willing  to  do  unusual  things  if  it 
please  thee,  if  that  will  more  perfectly  fulfill  thy  wise  and  perfect  plan.  We 
feel  like  asking  for  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  for  we  cannot  face  thee  without 
seeing  our  own  weaknesses  and  failures.  We  thank  thee  that  thy  blood  covers 
us.  We  pray  we  may  be  cleansed  from  the  weakness  of  past  failure.  Keep  us 
from  being  in  the  bondage  of  evil.  May  we  bring  our  very  thoughts  into  the 
obedience  and  captivity  of  Jesus  Christ.  May  he  be  in  reality  our  Master 
and  Lord,  and  may  he  dominate  our  lives  absolutely  according  to  his  own 
pleasure.    We  ask  it  all  for  his  sake.     Amen. 


Address  by  J.  Campbell  White. 

No  man  ever  becomes  great  except  by  identification  with  some  great  cause. 
The  sum  of  all  great  causes  in  this  world  is  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ.  It 
includes  all  the  other  reforms,  and  instead  of  dealing  with  things  piecemeal 
and  individually,  is  it  not  better  that  we  should  deal  with  the  root  of  the  diffi- 
culty and  thus  solve  the  problem  in  its  entirety  and  bring  the  world  back  into 
fellowship  with  God  ?  Among  all  the  great  blessings  I  have  to  be  thankful  for, 
I  count  one  of  the  chief  that  when  I  was  a  student  in  college  I  was  brought 
face  to  face  with  the  world's  need  and  my  own  personal  relation  to  that  need. 
I  had  never  realized  before  that  it  is  possible  for  every  Christian  to  live  with  a 
world-wide  outlook  and  a  world-wide  sympathy  and  influence.  And  I  came  to 
believe  that  it  was  not  only  a  possible  thing  but  an  obligatory  thing;  that  all 
of  us  are  living  in  a  narrower  sphere  than  Christ  means  for  us  to  live  in,  un- 
less our  hearts,  sympathies,  and  activities  are  reaching  out  to  embrace  the 
whole  problem  that  he  came  to  solve.  Christ  said  the  world  is  the  field. 
This  field  is  the  church's  and  yours  and  mine,  and  Wesley  went  not  a  step  too 
far  when  he  said,  "I  look  upon  the  world  as  my  parish."  Christ  means  every 
one  of  us  to  look  upon  the  world  as  his  parish.  If  we  are  to  reincarnate  the 
Spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  in  this  world  we  dare  not  look  upon  any  narrower 
parish  than  that.  It  is  not  particular  what  part  of  the  world  a  raan  spends 
his  life  in,  if  he  gives  it  wholly  to  the  complete  accomplishment  of  the  purpose 
of  Jesus  Christ.  I  think  that  purpose  will  decide  for  him  his  place  and  em- 
ployment, very  largely. 

I  do  not  know  who  said  it  first,  but  I  got  the  statement  of  Mr.  McCon- 
naughey,  of  the  Presbyterian  Board,  and  I  pass  it  on  to  you  that  "the  whole 
business  of  the  whole  church  is  to  preach  the  whole  gospel  to  the  whole  world." 
That  is  enough  for  you  to  think  about  for  several  months.  It  may  be  perfectly 
familiar  to  yoii.  "The  whole  business,"  not  a  part  of  it,  "of  the  whole  church," 
not  a  little  bit  of  it,  "is  to  preach  the  whole  gospel,"  touching  every  depart- 
ment of  it,  "to  the  whole  world,"  not  any  little  corner  of  it.  There  is  nothing 
that  will  develop  us  in  the  way  that  identification  with  Christ  will  do. 

One  of  the  most  encouraging  things  in  my  past  ten  years'  experience  has 
been  the  observation  of  the  effect  upon  men  of  throwing  their  lives  into  the 
current  of  Christ's  will,  and  seeing  them  just  develop  and  open  up  like  flowers 

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Union  Bihlical  Seminary 

under  the  pressure  of  that  purpose.  I  think  it  is  particularly  manifested  in 
the  lives  of  the  young  women  who  devote  their  lives  to  missionary  service. 
Over  fifty  of  our  lady  missionaries  working  in  Africa  and  India  were  only 
ordinary  people  when  they  went  out.  They  are  not  ordinary  now.  They  are 
marked  people  wherever  they  are  found.  Why?  Identification  with  Christ  in 
the  greatest  purpose  that  can  move  any  soul  has  made  them  great. 

If  you  have  an  ambition  to  be  great  (and  I  hope  you  have  in  the  highest 
sense),  then  identify  yourself  with  the  greatest  purpose  of  the  great  God.  The 
richest  undeveloped  asset  in  the  church  is  her  men.  The  women  greatly  out- 
number the  men  in  the  membership  of  our  churches  and  greatly  outrank  them 
in  the  activity  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Many  are  doing  very  little,  but,  taken 
as  a  whole,  they  are  doing  a  great  deal  more  than  the  average  man.  Probably 
the  greatest  problem  confronting  the  church  of  the  present  day  is  to  enlist, 
arouse,  and  develop  the  latent  power  of  the  men  to  extend  the  work;  to  get 
men  to  go  into  business  for  God;  as  William  Carey  said,  when  asked  what  his 
business  was,  "My  bvisiness  is  to  serve  the  Lord,  but  I  cobble  shoes  to  pay 
expenses." 

A  member  of  Gideon's  band,  who  let  their  light  shine,  said  people  make  fun 
of  him  when  he  begins  to  talk  religion  in  the  cars  and  at  the  tables,  and  he 
answers,  "Religion  is  my  business;  not  selling  goods."  He  could  not  write  his 
own  name  when  he  was  twenty-two,  but  he  is  doing  more  than  most  of  us  now. 
Identification  with  the  Cross  is  what  makes  a  man.  If  we  can  in  any  way  dis- 
cover a  plan  by  which  to  get  men  interested,  it  will  be  a  long  step  toward 
solving  our  problem.  This  is  clear;  God  has  a  place  in  his  kingdom  for  every 
man;  a  man's  work  for  every  one  to  do.  His  kingdom  cannot  go  on  as  it  should 
unless  every  one  of  us  gives  his  best  thought,  energy,  to  this  divine  work.  The 
divine  rule  is,  to  every  man  his  work,  and  not  many  men  are  busy  at  it,  but,  as 
we  observe,  it  is  not  entirely  in  every  case  the  fault  of  the  man  who  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  congregation,  for  I  am  persuaded  that  they  are  willing  to  do  far 
more  than  they  know  how  to  take  hold  of. 

In  the  last  few  months  I  have  been  impressed,  meeting  men  in  our  own 
churches  and  getting  into  informal  conversation  with  them  about  what  they 
ought  to  be  doing,  to  find  a  restless,  unsettled  spirit  among  them,  and  a  feeling 
that  the  church  ought  somehow  or  other  give  them  a  larger  opportunity  of 
service  than  they  have.  I  have  heard  one  man  after  another  say  he  longed  to 
take  hold,  but  did  not  know  where  to  take  hold.  These  are,  I  believe,  honest, 
sincere  men. 

It  is  inconceivable  to  me  that  God  should  plan  our  lives  that  the  most  of  us 
should  be  for  most  of  our  working  hours  doing  something  that  is  not  a  prepa- 
ration for  divine  service.  Most  of  us  have  to  work  at  secular  things  eight  or 
ten  hours  a  day.  Do  you  suppose  that  that  should  not  be  a  preparation  for 
Christian  service?  Is  it  not  true  that  that  thing  is  a  preparation  for  other 
service,  and  that  the  very  principles  that  apply  in  ordinary  business  affairs 
are  the  very  principles  which,  if  applied  to  the  greatest  business  in  the  world, 
would  help  us  to  carry  this  business  forward  in  a  better  way?  No  business 
firm  will  succeed  unless  it  has  a  clearly  defined  purpose.  We  would  not  expect 
a  railway  to  build  a  track  and  get  anywhere  unless  it  laid  down  a  plan  and 
followed  it.    We  would  not  expect  a  man  to  put  up  a  house  fit  to  look  at  unless 

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Bible  Conference  Addresses 

he  had  a  plan  and  followed  it.  A  man  would  not  succeed  in  business  unless  he 
outlined  very  clearly  in  his  own  mind  exactly  what  he  was  going  to  undertake. 
Is  there  a  clearly  defined  purpose  in  our  churches  to-day?  Ask  the  average 
man  what  the  church  is  for  in  the  world,  and  what  he  would  tell  you  (if  we 
can  judge  by  his  own  attitude)  is  that  the  main  thing  a  church  is  for  is  to  give 
him  a  place  to  go  on  Sabbath  and  get  a  little  shaking  up  into  a  better  life,  and 
a  place  where,  before  he  leaves,  they  will  pass  the  contribution  plate  and  he 
will  have  a  chance  to  help  pay  the  expenses.  To  occupy  his  seat  and  make  his 
contribution  is  about  all  he  thinks  he  has  to  do.  Have  we  given  men  clearly 
an  idea  that  the  church  of  Christ  is  an  army  of  conquest,  that  every  man  is  a 
soldier,  that  there  is  a  man's  wcft'k  for  him  to  do,  that  the  work  cannot  go  on 
unless  every  man  does  his  own  share?  Have  we  clearly  defined  the  work  so 
that  every  man  knows  how  to  lift  his  part  of  the  load  ?  I  think  a  clear  defini- 
tion of  what  we  are  here  for  is  one  of  the  very  first  things  we  need.  That  is 
the  case  in  any  well-managed  business.  The  second  thing  is  supervision. 
The  thing  will  not  run  itself.  Its  problems  have  to  be  thought  through.  In  a 
great  store  where  there  are  hundreds  of  people  employed,  it  would  be  a  fear- 
ful waste  of  power  not  to  divide  the  work,  plan  it  out,  and  have  men  at  the 
head  whose  chief  work  is  the  planning  of  work  for  other  people  to  do.  That  is 
the  highest-paid  labor  in  this  country — the  labor  that  is  planning  work  for 
other  men;  the  men  managers;  the  men  in  the  lead,  thinking  out  and  setting 
other  men  to  work.  You  say  the  pastor  is  the  leader  of  the  congregation. 
Yes.  How  much  time  does  the  average  pastor  give  to  the  consideration  of 
plans  by  which  other  men  are  to  work?  There  are  a  lot  of  pastors  here  this 
afternoon.  I  wonder  what  proportion  of  your  time  is  given  to  the  planning 
of  work  for  other  men  to  do.  We  are  leaders,  but  most  of  us  are  doing  most  of 
the  work  ourselves.  It  is  not  enough  for  the  pastor  to  do  his  work.  There 
are  other  men  in  the  congregation  who  are  able  to  plan  also,  who  have  business 
capacity,  who  have  men  working  under  their  supei-vision  in  the  business  world, 
and  the  greatest  usefulness  will  be  secured  when  these  men  plan  work  for 
other  men  to  do.  There  is  no  reason  why  there  should  not  be  a  number  of  men 
associated  with  the  pastor  in  planning  the  work  that  everybody  is  to  under- 
take. 

The  third  principle  which  we  need  is  that  of  organization,  without  which 
no  business  would  succeed;  every  man  assigned  a  specific  part  of  the  business 
he  is  to  do;  every  department  of  work  looked  after  so  that  it  will  not  fail. 
How  would  a  railway  run  if  all  the  employees  of  the  railway  were  bunched 
together  and  told  to  now  run  the  railway.  I  would  not  care  to  start  back  to 
Pittsburg  if  things  were  run  that  way.  I  would  probably  find  one  of  the  men 
whose  work  was  with  the  pick  and  shovel,  trying  to  run  the  engine.  There  is 
no  telling  where  he  would  run  it.  Every  man  must  be  in  his  own  place. 
Every  man  would  be  in  the  wrong  place,  I  am  afraid,  if  every  man  chose  his 
own  place.  Every  man  in  a  department  store  is  chosen  to  be  there  because  of 
his  ability  to  do  the  thing  needed  to  be  done  there,  and,  as  he  becomes  capable 
through  effort,  he  is  promoted  to  a  higher  place  where  there  are  harder  things 
to  do. 

But  we  do  not  have  an  organization  like  that  in  the  church;  every  depart- 
ment looked  after  so  that  nothing  suffers  from  not  having  each  one  definitely 

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Union  Biblical  Seminary 

assigned  to  a  specific  place.  The  reason  a  great  many  men  are  idle  in  the 
chvirch  is  that  the  work  of  the  church  is  not  divided  into  departments,  as  the 
department  store  or  railway  system,  and  every  man  in  the  church  with  a  place 
assigned  him.  There  should  be  these  general  leaders  (call  them  what  you 
may),  who  are  called  the  Board  of  General  Supervision  in  our  church,  actually 
assigning  every  man  in  the  congregation  a  specific  part  of  the  work,  after 
studying  his  adaptability  and  capacity.  "When  this  is  realized,  there  will  be  no 
drones  anywhere  so  far  as  we  can  help  it.  It  may  be  there  are  some  in  the 
church  so  set  in  their  way  that  it  would  take  something  remarkable  to  get 
them  to  change. 

If  we  set  to  the  task  of  giving  every  man 'something  to  do  and  encourage 
him  in  it,  and  making  the  new  man  an  active  force  in  the  church,  we  have 
that  much  clear  gain  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  If  we  cannot  get  all,  we  should 
get  as  many  as  we  can,  but  be  especially  careful  to  get  as  many  of  the  young 
element  of  the  church  as  we  can.  May  the  time  come  when  every  soldier  is  in 
fighting  condition. 

The  fourth  principle  is  cooperation.  Take  this  crowd  this  afternoon  and 
set  them  to  work  individually  to  do  a  certain  task.  They  might  get  it  done 
after  a  while.  If  you  organize  them  they  will  do  it  a  great  deal  sooner,  but 
the  divine  principle  is  that  every  man  shall  act  with  the  others,  with  a  com- 
mon purpose.  In  that  way  they  will  accomplish  as  much  as  ten  men  working 
separately.  What  kind  of  a  force  in  the  world  would  we  have  if  the  20,000,000 
church-members  in  this  country  were  actually  acting  as  one  in  harmony  and 
organization  for  the  redemption  of  souls'  It  woVild  be  simply  irresistible. 
God  means  that  we  shall  cooperate  in  his  work,  and,  best  of  all,  he  holds  him- 
self at  our  disposal  and  is  one  of  the  group  that  cooperate  with  one  another. 
"If  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name"  to  pray,  or  to  fight, 
"there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."  Are  we  using  that  principle  sufficiently  in 
our  church  work  ? 

Now,  we  have  tried  to  embody  in  our  church  those  four  principles — defini- 
tion of  purpose,  organization  of  work,  cooperation  in  service,  and  supervision 
by  competent  leaders  who  plan  and  set  all  men  of  the  church  to  work. 

The  first  department  of  service  mentioned  is  the  department  for  promoting 
intelligence.  How  many  men  would  give  acceptable  answers  to  the  questions 
that  might  be  asked  concerning  the  work  of  the  church?  What  kind  of 
answers  would  we  give  ?  Some  of  you  men  are  in  business  and  charged  with 
the  responsibility  "to  advertise"  the  business.  All  the  skill  necessary  in  the 
business  world  is  needed  to  advertise  the  kingdom  of  God.  Every  kind  of 
ability  of  this  kind  should  be  used  in  this  business.  Every  inch  of  what  is 
learned  in  the  bvisiness  out  in  the  world  can  be  applied  to  the  solution  of  the 
church's  problems. 

The  second  department  is  that  of  finance.  You  men  are  dealing  with  money 
from  Monday  to  Saturday  night.  Is  it  not  possible  for  these  business  men  to 
take  hold  of  this  financial  problem  and  put  the  congregation  on  a  business 
standing  too?  Men  would  have  a  new  sense  of  the  dignity  and  value  of  the 
whole  kingdom  of  God  if  they  would  do  this. 

Third,  a  department  for  promoting  friendliness,  etc.  Is  it  possible  for  a 
stranger  to  come  without  a  welcome?     For  any  one  not  to  be  provided  with  a 

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Bihle  Conference  Addresses 

hymn-book?  Is  it  possible  for  a  family  to  move  into  yoiir  neighborhood  and 
not  call  on  them  ?  Do  even  the  members  of  the  church  know  one  another  ?  A 
lack  of  friendly  interest  in  yoimg  men  and  women  may  mean  their  ruin  or  the 
presence  of  that  interest  their  eternal  salvation. 

Fourth,  the  department  for  promoting  habits  of  personal  and  family  prayer 
and  Bible  study,  and  also  the  work  of  the  Sabbath  school.  What  proportion 
of  the  male  members  of  our  churches  have  the  habit  of  sitting  down  every 
day  and  reading  a  portion  of  the  Scriptures  in  a  systematic  way?  How  many 
cover  the  whole  Bible  in  their  reading?  How  many  of  the  homes  have  a  family 
altar,  where  the  family  gathers  each  day  for  reading  the  Word  of  God?  The 
right  kind  of  a  committee  can  make  those  things  almost  universal. 

Fifth,  department  for  promoting  individual  Christian  effort,  and  for  work 
among  new  converts. 

Sixth,  department  for  promoting  neighborhood  work. 

Seventh,  department  for  promoting  attendance  both  of  members  and  out- 
siders at  the  regular  church  services.  Suppose  you  had  ten  men  on  promoting 
attendance,  and  supposing  they  would  take  the  whole  list  of  mem.bers  and 
each  one  be  responsible  for  a  group  of  twenty;  suppose  they  attend- all  the 
services  themselves,  and  jot  down  in  a  note-book  the  names  of  those  who  are 
not  there;  suppose  they  let  these  people  know  they  recognize  their  absence, 
and  miss  them.  Keep  a  record  of  all  the  strangers.  I  do  not  think  the  preach- 
ers would  object  to  such  a  plan.  Would  it  not  do  the  men  good?  Would  it 
not  lead  men  into  the  kingdom  ?  That  is  the  way  we  go  at  any  other  business 
concern.  The  church  of  Christ  is  the  place  where  men  hear  the  message  of  life 
and  light.  Can  we  get  men  into  it  ?  We  can  if  we  try.  We  will  try  if  we  are 
assigned  to  the  task  and  encouraged  to  do  it. 

Eighth,  department  for  promoting  reform.  Why  should  all  this  Sabbath 
day  work  be  going  on?  It  could  be  stopped  if  the  church  were  to  assert  its 
spirit.  If  the  church  would  unite,  many  things  could  be  stopped,  such  as  the 
circulation  of  bad  literature  among  the  school  children.  Many  things  we 
could  do  if  we  organize  and  cooperate. 

Ninth,  department  for  helping  the  sick  and  the  poor. 

Tenth,  department  for  promoting  intellectual  development. 

Eleventh,  department  for  work  among  young  men  and  boys. 

In  a  department  store,  an  accountant  every  month  looks  into  the  conditions 
of  the  various  departments,  and  if  any  department  is  not  paying,  it  has  to 
tell  the  reason  why.  Why  not  go  at  the  work  of  God  in  such  a  way  and  give 
percentages  to  indicate  progress  ?  Take  the  percentage  of  male  members  doing 
aggressive  work;  the  percentage  of  families  having  family  worship,  etc.,  etc. 

As  men's  organizations  spring  up  in  this  denomination,  regard  every  male 
member  as  a  sharer  in  the  active  work  of  the  church.  I  have  five  little  chil- 
dren. The  two  oldest  are  aged  ten  and  twelve  respectively.  The  boy,  ten,  was 
assigned  to  the  department  of  work  for  boys.  In  this  department  men  and 
boys  discuss  what  to  do  for  the  whole  commirnity;  and  although  it  was  the 
child's  custom  to  go  to  bed  early,  still  he  felt  he  was  a  part  of  the  machinery 
and  expected  to  go.  A  couple  of  weeks  later  there  was  a  meeting  of  the  whole 
League.  After  supper  he  said,  "Father,  there  is  a  League  meeting  this  even- 
ing."   When  we  get  to  the  point  where  the  old  and  young  alike  share  the  privi- 

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Union  Biblical  Seminary 

lege  of  being  with  God  in  his  work,  we  are  going  to  have  a  new  dawn  Get 
men  to  give  themselves.  Do  not  talk  much  about  money.  When  men  go  to 
work  for  the  saving  of  America,  they  will  work  for  the  saving  of  the  world 
Js  there  not  room  for  a  great  advance  in  our  churches  in  waking  up  the  men 
into  a  mighty  resistless  army  of  conquest  for  Jesus  Christ? 


Prayer. 

O  Lord,  we  are  glad  of  the  share  every  man  and  woman  may  have  in  thy 
plan.  We  thank  thee  that  every  one  who  abides  in  thee  is  to  bring  forth  fruit  • 
that  no  other  condition  is  necessary.  Thou  dost  take  the  humblest  of  thy  people 
and  let  thy  light  pour  through  them.  Oh,  keep  us  from  imagining  that  just  a  few 
^TFt  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^^^^  privilege.  May  we  realize  that  every  one  of  us  is  a  branch 
of  Christ;  that  he  is  counting  on  us  and  caiuaot  do  his  work  without  us.  Help 
us  to  yield  to  the  flow  of  his  life,  that  through  us  it  may  outpour  into  the 
needy  world.  We  pray  that  thou  wilt  guide  this  conference  very  clearly  in  think- 
ing about  any  steps  that  we  ourselves  may  take  in  the  better  planning  of  the 
work  which  the  members  of  our  churches  are  to  do.  We  certainly  need  the 
counsel  of  the  Head  of  the  church  at  a  point  like  this.  It  is  thy  work  we  are 
talking  about ;  thinldng  about  trying  to  do ;  and  thou  art  the  great  guide  in  it, 
surely.  Thou  wilt  give  us  wisdom,  if  we  trust  thee,  and  great  success  if  we 
follow  out  thy  directions.  May  we  be  given  a  divine  discrimination  as  to 
what  principles  to  employ  in  enlisting  men,  especially  in  the  active  service  of 
thee.  May  the  day  come  speedily  when  men  are  actively  engaged  in  this 
work,  putting  their  personality  into  the  work  as  well  as  their  money.  And 
grant  that  all  our  churches  may  very  soon  come  to  the  point  of  counting  the 
kingdom  of  God  the  first  thing;  not  putting  other  things  first.  To  this  end  may 
we  let  thee  have  right  of  way  in  our  lives;  going  out  to  influence  other  people. 
VVe  pray  we  may  be  more  willing  to  go  the  whole  way  with  God;  that  he  may 
lead  us  and  direct  us,  and  grant  us  thy  leadership  in  any  purpose  we  may 
agree  upon  to  work  toward,  and  may  we  go  out  from  this  place  strengthened 
mightily.    We  ask  it  in  thy  name.    Amen. 


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Bible  Conference  Addresses 


featutDap  (Ebeninff. 


GRADUATING  EXERCISES  OF  THE  SEMINARY. 

Saturday,  Mat  5,  1906,  7:30  p.m. 
Song  by  the  Arion  Quartet. 

Prayer  by  Rev.  J.  W.  Lilly  (who  had  a  son  graduate  that  evening). 

O  thou  Infinite  One,  make  us  conscious,  in  a  measure  at  least,  of  our  de- 
pendency as  we  come  into  thy  presence  this  evening.  We  rejoice  that  we  may 
remember  the  mercies  of  the  past,  and  would  render  thee  the  offering  of  our 
hearts  that  thou  hast  brought  us  safely  until  this  hour.  We  thank  thee  for 
what  this  gathering  represents ;  for  its  influence  upon  the  church.  We  rejoice 
and  bless  thee  for  this  institution  of  learning;  for  those  that  have  gone  out 
from  its  walls  into  the  broad  harvest-field  to  gather  sheaves  into  thine  own 
garner.  We  thank  thee  for  the  success  that  has  attended  their  efforts.  Con- 
tinue thy  blessing  upon  this  institution  of  learning;  upon  every  member  of 
the  faculty  and  all  connected  with  it.  May  they  more  and  more  seek  thy  glory 
and  the  salvation  of  men. 

We  come  especially  to  thank  thee  for  the  class  of  this  evening,  whose  mem- 
bers are  about  to  enter  upon  the  greater  responsibilities  of  life.  O  thou  blessed 
Christ,  who  opened  the  Scriptures  to  the  disciples  long  ago,  and  their  hearts 
burned  within  them,  we  pray  that -thou  wilt  walk  with  these  and  open  unto 
them  thy  word,  and,  as  thou  shalt  present  thy  truth,  oh,  may  the  Spirit,  the 
Holy  Spirit,  talk  of  the  things  of  God.  Make  them  useful  in  the  ministry  of 
tliy  word,  and  may  they  have  influence  with  those  with  whom  they  shall  labor. 
We  pray  thy  blessing  upon  them.  We  thank  thee  for  the  inspiration  that  has 
come  to  our  hearts;  for  the  broader  vision  we  have  of  our  possibilities.  Oh, 
grant  that  we  may  have  the  courage  to  enter  the  open  doors  of  usefulness; 
and  may  this  Church  more  and  more  become  a  power  for  righteousness,  and 
may  we  share  in  the  bringing  of  this  lost  world  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth. 

We  pray  thy  blessing  upon  the  speaker  of  this  evening.  Grant  that  the 
message  may  be  thine  own.  Prepare  our  hearts  for  its  reception ;  and  may  we 
obtain  fresh  inspiration  for  the  work  that  may  be  allotted  to  each  one  of  us. 
Guide  us  in  the  days  that  may  come  to  us,  and  then,  at  last,  oh,  at  last,  bring 
us  to  the  enjoyment  of  thyself  for  thy  name's  sake.    Amen. 

Kev.  G.  A.  Funkhouser  introduces  to  the  audience  Dr.  C.  I.  B.  Brane, 
whose  address  was  "The  Master's  Message." 


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Union  Biblical  Seminary 

Doctor  Brane^s  Address. 

llie  Master's  Messengers. 

I  am  not  sure  that  I  can  recall  even  a  brief  period  in  the  history  of  my 
childhood  when  I  did  not  at  least  occasionally  experience  a  desire  to  become  a 
minister  of  the  gospel ;  and  the  soiirce  of  my  secret  sorrow  then  was  the  fear  that 
I  should  not  become  intellectually  qualified,  much  less  morally  and  spiritually 
good  enough,  to  occupy  that  high  and  responsible  position  in  the  church  of 
our  blessed  Redeemer  bought  with  his  own  precious  blood.  Years  of  expe- 
rience and  observation  and  hard  toil  for  the  Master  have  simply  confirmed 
those  early  fears  and  vindicated  the  exalted  view  I  then  took  of  what  is  to  me 
to-day  the  highest  and  hardest,  but  sweetest  work  to  which,  in  the  providence 
of  God,  the  childi-en  of  men  are  called.  As  is  written,  "How  beautiful  upon 
the  mountains  are  the  feet  of  him  that  bringeth  good  tidings,  that  publisheth 
peace,  that  bringeth  good  tidings  of  good,  that  publisheth  salvation,  that  saith 
unto  Zion,  Thy  God  reigneth."  As  the  snow-capped  summit  of  the  highest 
mountain  lifts  itself  in  strength  and  beauty  above  the  surrounding  hills;  as 
the  magnitude  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  exceeds  the  capacity  of  your  city  reser- 
voir; as  the  brightness  of  the  sun  under  Italy's  clearest,  bluest  sky  outshines 
the  faint  flicker  of  the  fire-fly,  so  does  the  measure  and  meaning  of  a  goodly 
personality,  especially  in  the  relation  of  a  preacher  of  righteousness  to  the 
community  at  large,  exceed  and  surpass,  in  point  of  intrinsic  worth  and  real 
helpfulness,  every  other  expression  of  life  which  does  not  embody  and  exem- 
plify the  power  and  spirit  of  the  gospel.  Moses  stood  high  in  his  relations 
with  God  and  men  when  he  lifted  the  brazen  serpent  in  the  center  of  the 
camp,  and  thus  furnished  physical  health  and  healing  to  many  who  were  sick 
and  ready  to  die;  but  he  who,  by  private  or  public  appeal,  especially  through 
the  medium  of  a  clean  and  consecrated  life,  lifts  high  the  great  magnet  of  the 
Cross,  sustains  an  infinitely  higher  and  more  helpful  relation  to  both.  David's 
three  friends  who  braved  the  perils  of  the  Philistine  camp  and  brought  him  a 
cool  drink  from  the  dear  old  home  well,  for  whose  sparkling  waters  our  home- 
sick hearts  sometimes  grow  desperately  thirsty,  covered  themselves  and  their 
king  with  great  honor;  but  to  take  the  cup  of  salvation,  sparkling  with  the 
water  of  life,  and  affectionately  press  it  to  the  lips  of  lost  souls,  and  thus 
place  them  in  the  line  of  promotion,  not  to  worldly  fame  and  honor,  but  to 
eternal  life  and  glory,  is  a  far  greater  achievement.  Except  in  the  sense  of 
respect  for  those  in  authority,  it  was  no  honor  for  Elijah  to  run  ahead  of  the 
smoking  horses  of  Ahab's  chariot.  Indeed,  considering  who  and  what  the 
parties  were,  it  would  have  been  more  in  keeping  with  the  fitness  of  things  for 
the  king  to  run  and  the  prophet  to  ride.  But  to  run  by  the  side  of  the  gospel 
chariot,  in  which  the  King  of  glory  rides,  no  longer  mocked  and  pierced  with 
thorns,  thank  God,  but  crowned  with  victory  and  honor,  and  win  to  a  state 
of  saving  faith  in  his  personality  those  who  will  affectionately  strew  his  path 
with  palms  and  swell  the  chorxis  of  "Hosanna  to  the  son  of  David,"  is  a  rela- 
tion in  life  that  will  count  for  more,  in  time  and  in  eternity,  than  the  com- 
bined achievements  of  the  most  deservedly  distinguished  and  useful  men  and 
women  who  have  lived  and  labored  exclusively  for  secular  results. 

In  the  spirit  of  that  persuasion,  making  the  spiritual  welfare  of  men  the 

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Bible  Conference  Addresses 

supreme  object  of  life,  Jesus  placed  in  the  hands  of  his  disciples  this  com- 
mission, "Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature." 
"As  ye  go,  preach."  Christian  men,  women,  and  children  are  God's  chosen 
messengers  to  bear  this  good  news,  to  tell  these  glad  tidings  to  every  creature. 
In  responding  to  this  call,  in  executing  these  orders,  in  seeking  to  carry  out 
the  wish  of  the  world's  Redeemer  respecting  the  publication  of  the  gospel,  it 
is  right  and  reasonable  that  those  who  give  themselves  exclusively  to  the  work 
should  be  consciously  divinely  called.  Of  course,  every  Christian  is  qualified 
and  called  upon  to  contribute  something  to  the  restoration  of  a  lost  world  to 
the  favor  and  fellowship  of  God.  We  are  expected  to  break  the  Bread  of  Life 
to  the  perishing,  both  at  home  and  abroad.  We  are  to  preach  as  we  go,  wher- 
ever we  happen  to  be,  and  under  all  circumstances  in  life,  not  merely  from  the 
pulpit,  but  invariably  through  the  media  of  a  holy  walk,  a  God-fearing  faith, 
an  affectionate  spirit  and  a  passion  for  souls.  Thank  God  for  this  individual 
opportunity,  which  is  universally  accorded,  to  preach  the  gospel  and  save 
souls,  which  is  the  greatest,  most  delightful,  and  permanently  profitable  em- 
ployment upon  which  the  children  of  men  may  enter.  "He  that  winneth 
souls  is  wise;"  and  "they  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firma- 
ment; and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  as  the  stars  for  ever  and 
ever."  "Let  him  know,  that  he  which  converteth  the  sinner  from  the  error  of 
his  way  shall  save  a  soul  from  death,  and  shall  hide  a  miiltitude  of  sins." 
What  an  interesting  motive  is  there  set  before  Christian  workers — the  destruc- 
tion of  sin  and  the  salvation  of  souls. 

"Oh,  the  good  we  all  may  do 
While  the  days  are  going  by!" 

"Now  then  we  are  ambassadors  for  Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech  you 
by  us:  we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God."  That  is  your 
mission  and  mine:  we  are  to  offer  terms  of  peace  and  reconciliation  to  a  lost 
and  rebellious  world  in  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth;  we  are  to  preach 
Christ  and  him  crucified;  we  are  to  point  to  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world;  we  are  to  sing  the  same  song  that  the  angels  sang 
when  the  Master  came  to  the  manger.  A  lost  world  and  a  living,  loving 
Savior — that  's  our  message.  How  shall  we  deliver  it?  May  the  Holy  Spirit 
lead  us  all  more  fully  into  the  great  secret  of  winning  souls  to  Christ. 

Aside  from  the  commonly  recognized  qualifications  for  Christian  work, 
which  always  include  moral  and  intellectual  fitness,  I  wish  to  emphasize  the 
value  of  several  agencies  upon  which  the  results  of  our  labor  largely  depend. 
Among  those  vital  forces  we  fijx  the  Bible,  whose  counsel  and  consolations  are 
so  indispensable  that  we  insist  upon  its  truths  being  studied  with  even  greater 
exactness  than  that  which  characterizes  the  most  diligent  student  in  the  pur- 
suit of  secular  knowledge.  To  justify  and  transmit  that  conviction  I  only 
need  to  call  attention  to  the  contents  of  this  Book.  He  who  opens  it  with  an 
honest  heart,  sincerely  seeking  the  welfare  of  his  soul,  hungering  and  thirst- 
ing after  righteousness,  enters  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  every- 
where fruitful  and  luxuriant,  the  ripened  grain  all  ready  to  a  full  harvest. 
Even  in  a  literary  sense,  the  Bible  is  the  best  book  in  the  world's  library. 
Here  we  have  history,  poetry,  science,  and  philosophy,  including  the  redemp- 

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Union  Biblical  Seminary 

tion  of  the  world  by  the  blood  of  the  cross — an  expression  of  divine  love  over 
which  angels  bend  in  wonder  and  admiration.  Indeed,  the  Bible  is  the  em- 
bodiment of  intelligence  and  integrity,  the  twin  powers  of  reason  and  right- 
eousness, just  as  you  have  cleverly  associated  them  in  the  work  of  the 
Seminary. 

Historically  speaking,  the  price  of  this  Book  is  above  rubies !  A  splendidly 
connected  history  of  over  two  thousand  of  the  earliest  years  of  time  is  faith- 
fully unfolded  in  the  first  few  chapters  of  Genesis.  It  opens  with  an  account 
of  the  creation  of  the  material  imiverse,  which  is  followed  by  facts  and  figures 
that  will  increase  in  value  to  the  latest  generation.  Here  we  have  an  account 
of  the  creation  of  man,  his  character  and  fall,  the  promise  of  his  redemption, 
the  deluge,  the  confusion  of  tongues,  "the  early  settlement  of  Egypt,  the  rise 
and  fall  of  the  Assyrian  empire,  with  the  names  of  all  of  its  successive  princes ; 
the  origin  and  overthrow  of  the  Hebrew  people,  including  an  account  of  the 
ancient  cities  of  Thebes,  Nineveh,  and  Babylon,  together  with  all  that  ren- 
dered them  the  wonders  of  the  world."  In  connection  with  these  historical 
facts  and  figures,  the  rising  tide  of  interest  centers  in  the  beautiful  lives  of 
Joseph,  Ezra,  and  Nehemiah,  and  ciilminates  in  the  thrilling  story  of  the 
Master's  trial  and  crucifixion,  from  the  time  he  passed  the  sop  to  Judas  to  the 
moment  when  he  expired  on  the  cross,  which  then  and  there  became  the  key 
to  the  kingdom. 

But  I  do  not  find  the  chief  value  of  God's  word  among  its  literary  treas- 
ures— its  history,  its  poetry,  its  masterpieces  of  eloquent  thought  and  utter- 
ance. Its  supreme  worth  is  found  in  its  moral  and  spiritual  revelations. 
Here  its  value  is  inexpressible  in  any  terms.  At  this  point  life  and  immor- 
tality  are  brought  to  light.  The  cardinal  doctrines  are  sin  and  salvation, 
human  ruin  and  restoration,  the  former  wrought  by  the  disobedience  of  one 
man,  and  the  latter  accomplished  by  the  obedience  of  Him  who  came  to  seek 
and  save  that  which  was  lost.  Human  selfishness  and  sin  erected  the  cross, 
and  divine  love  and  mercy  accepted  that  cruel  and  disgraceful  instrument  of 
death  as  the  only  means  of  saving  a  lost  and  hopelessly  ruined  world.  No 
wonder  Paul  refused  to  glory  in  anything  by  the  cross !  It  stands  for  Jesus ! 
It  is  the  source  and  center  of  all  spiritual  life  and  power.  It  is  the  symbol  of 
law  and  love,  justice  and  mercy.  It  is  the  badge  of  our  discipleship  and  the 
sign  by  which  we  conquer.  Calvary  is  the  loftiest  peak  in  the  mountains  of 
divine  love — the  highest  place  in  the  world.  Topographically  speaking,  it 
rises  less  than  2,500  feet  above  the  waters  of  the  Mediterranean,  but  it  is  the 
only  place  in  the  universe  to  which  the  poor  sinner  may  climb  and  be  safe 
from  the  rising  tide  of  divine  wrath.  I  know  that  the  poor  penitent,  bur- 
dened with  a  painful  sense  of  sin,  is  unconscious  of  his  rapidly  rising  altitude, 
as  he  struggles  towards  the  cross-crowned  mount,  but  when  he  reaches  its 
blood-stained,  rock-riven  summit,  beautiful  spires  begin  to  gleam  in  the  sun- 
light, and  within  the  scope  of  his  inspired  vision,  when  he  believes  with  the 
heart  unto  righteousness,  rises  the  beautiful  city  of  God.  More  than  once 
you  and  I  have  stood  by  the  cross  and  seen,  even  through  tears  of  disappoint- 
ment, affliction,  and  bereavement  the  blessed  light  of  heaven  burst  from  the 
gates  of  pearl,  while  from  over  the  walls  of  jasper  we  caught  the  joyful  notes 


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of  the  happy  millions  from  whose  eyes  God  has  wiped  away  all  tears !    Under 
the  shelter  of  the  cross  these  words  attain  their  deepest,  sweetest  meaning: 

"Rock  of  Ages,  cleft  for  me, 
Let  me  hide  myself  in  thee; 
Let  the  water  and  the  blood, 
From  thy  side  a  healing  flood, 
Be  of  sin  the  double  cure — 
Save  from  wrath  and  make  me  pure." 

The  poet  has  faithfully  represented  the  natural  hardness  of  the  human 
heart  in  these  terms : 

"The  rocks  can  rend,  the  earth  can  quake. 
The  sea  can  roar,  the  mountain  shake; 
Of  feeling  all  things  show  some  sign, 
But  this  unfeeling  heart  of  mine." 

The  cold  rays  of  hviman  reason  and  philosophy,  with  the  best  text  in  the 
Bible  for  a  caption,  can  never  reach,  much  less  thaw,  a  heart  like  that.  Cold 
arguments  of  an  exclusively  intellectual  character,  no  matter  how  fine  or  fer- 
tile their  theological  tracings  may  be,  are  incapable  of  producing  anything  in 
the  spiritual  world,  unless  it  be  a  deeper  slumber.  Nothing  but  the  sentiments 
and  sympathies  of  the  cross  can  thaw  the  frozen  feelings  of  an  unchanged 
heart  and  start  the  stream  of  affection  in  the  direction  of  the  Almighty.  We 
must  go  to  Calvary  for  our  spiritual  equipment.  A  lost  world  and  living 
Savior  make  up  the  meaning  of  our  message. 

When  Roscoe  Conkling  was  once  urging  the  claims  of  General  Grant  for 
the  Presidency,  and  before  he  mentioned  his  name  to  the  great  national  con- 
vention, he  paused  on  the  high  tide  of  his  patriotic  appeal  and  said,  "You  ask, 
whence  comes  our  candidate?  We  answer,  from  Appomattox!"  And  imme- 
diately the  great  convention  hall  shook  with  five  thousand  shouts  of  applause. 

The  human  family  is  lost  in  the  wilderness  of  sin  and  sorrow,  and  we  w^nt 
some  one  to  lead  us  out  of  these  deplorable  circumstances  of  distress  into 
divine  favor  and  fellowship,  and  finally  to  Father's  house  on  high.  You  ask, 
"Whence  comes  your  leader?"  We  proudly  point  to  Calvary.  "Who  is  this 
that  Cometh  from  Edon,  with  dyed  garments  from  Bozrah?  This  that  is 
glorious  in  his  apparel,  traveling  in  the  greatness  of  his  strength?  I  that 
speak  in  righteousness,  mighty  to  save."  Jesus  is  our  leader,  for  he  shall 
save  his  people  from  their  sins. 

Down  the  beam  of  the  cross,  over  the  riven  rocks  of  Golgotha,  through  the 
streets  of  Jerusalem,  down  the  valleys  of  the  Hinnom  and  Kidron,  throughout 
the  borders  of  Palestine,  across  the  waters  of  the  Mediterranean,  to  every 
land  and  age  and  people  and  person  the  saving  love  of  God  flows  in  streams  of 
blood  from  the  pierced  hands  and  feet  and  heart  of  Jesus.  This  is  the  foun- 
tain opened  in  the  house  of  David  for  sin  and  uncleanness  into  which  the 
whole  world  of  mankind  may  plunge,  as  Cowper  says,  and  "lose  all  their 
guilty  stains," 

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Union  Biblical  Seminary 

But  we  receive  from  the  Bible  not  only  our  langriage  and  literature,  our 
laws  and  liberties,  our  moral  and  religious  training,  teaching-  us  exactly  how 
we  may  be  saved  from  sin  and  then  assist  in  the  salvation  of  others,  but  it 
also  furnishes  adequate  and  suitable  comfort  to  Christians  under  all  circum- 
stances in  life.  This  is  a  strange  world,  and  while  we  are  in  it  we  shall  have, 
in  connection  with  our  spiritual  peace  and  hope,  all  sorts  of  bitter  experiences, 
including  failure  to  realize  our  highest  ideals.  In  Christian  life  and  labor 
we  sometimes  find  a  barren  year,  when  blossoms  are  untimely  driven  down  by 
adverse  winds;  when  no  ripened  fruitage  crowns  the  summer's  toil,  and  the 
world  coldly  frowns  upon  our  bruised  and  breaking  hearts,  and  laughs  at  our 
bitter,  briny  tears.  If  your  experience  does  not  include  a  barren  year,  per- 
haps you  encountered  a  faithless  day,  that  rudely  broke  the  bright  promise  of 
the  morning,  filled  the  noontide  with  wreck  and  disaster,  and  thus  made  pain- 
fully silent  the  harp  of  joy  you  hoped  would  never  be  hung  on  the  willow. 
These  things,  including  poverty,  persecvition,  affliction,  and  bereavement, 
form  a  part  of  the  "fiery  trial"  by  which  we  are  tested;  but  these  painful 
problems  are  either  solved  or  simplified  in  the  light  of  revelation,  and  all  the 
bother  and  bitterness  of  human  experience,  at  least  so  far  as  God's  people  are 
concerned,  become  a  mere  matter  of  discipline,  working  out  for  them  a  far 
more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory. 

In  connection  with  a  personal  knowledge  of  the  saving  truths  of  the  Bible, 
including  the  spiritual  encouragement  its  pages  afford,  we  need  a  deeper  sym- 
pathy for  lost  souls.  If  we  are  to  "preach  as  we  go,"  and  if  our  sermons  are 
to  be  soul-saving  expressions  of  life  and  spirit,  then  we  must  get  and  keep 
closer  to  Jesus.  We  talk  about  him  a  great  deal — at  least  I  do — three  or  four 
times  publicly  each  week;  but  may  be  I  do  not  walk  and  talk  with  him  as 
much  as  I  should.  I  may  spend  a  week  in  giving  logical  form  and  intellectual 
finish  to  a  sermon,  wondering  how  it  will  fall  on  cultivated  ears  (and  the 
teacher  or  preacher  who  ignores  the  culture  of  the  age  is  foolish) ;  but  unless 
I  plead  for  the  ministry  of  the  Spirit  in  the  things  of  Jesus,  my  inessage  will 
be  a  lifeless  thing,  no  matter  how  pretty  or  pleasing  it  may  be.  The  soundest 
logic  and  the  most  exquisite  beauty  that  can  characterize  a  gospel  sermon 
flow  from  a  heart  that  is  tenderly  in  sympathy  with  Jesus  and  lost  souls. 
How  rapidly  the  value  of  a  soul  rises  in  the  estimation  of  a  spiritually- 
minded  individual !  How  the  sight  of  a  lost  world  taxes  the  tension  of  his 
sympathy,  which  soon  breaks  over  the  narrow  limits  of  his  power  to  give 
assistance  to  those  who  are  in  need,  and  sweeps  over  land  and  sea  to  reach 
and  rescue  the  millions  who  know  not  God.  It  mrkes  the  brow  hot  and  the 
heart  ache  and  the  soul  sad  to  see  the  fields  white  already  to  harvest,  and  yet 
be  unable  to  thrust  in  a  single  sickle,  simply  because  the  laborers  are  few. 
Beyond  our  crowded  centers  of  population,  with  their  degradation  and  squalor, 
rises  the  dark  shadow  of  heathenism,  as  wide  as  the  continent  and  vitterly 
helpless.  As  we  look  into  the  faces  of  these  permanently  cursed  millions,  and 
remember  that  they  are  our  brethren,  we  should  be  moved  to  tears  of  sympathy 
over  their  condition. 

When  Isaiah  saw  the  approaching  invasion  of  Judea  by  Sennacherib  and 
the  sorrows  that  would  then  befall  his  people,  he  said,  "Look  away  from  me: 
I  will  weep  bitterly;  labor  not  to  comfort  me   .    .    .   don't  cry  to  soothe  ray 

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Bible  Conference  Addresses 


sorrow  in  the  presence  of  such  a  prospect,  .  .  .  because  of  the  spoiling  of  the 
daughter  of  my  people."  There  is  a  sample  of  solicitude  for  the  welfare  of 
others.  If  I  am  not  thus  deeply  concerned  for  the  spiritual  prosperity  of  the 
people,  especially  those  to  whom  I  minister  in  the  sanctuary  services,  then  I 
am  not  a  soul-winner,  but  a  self -server,  and  I  have  my  reward,  which  is  worse 
than  worthless.  We  must  follow  Jesus  in  the  spirit  of  love  and  consecration 
through  poverty's  vale  and  a  toilsome  ministry;  into  the  Garden  of  Agony; 
through  the  deceit  and  revilement  of  Pilate's  hall;  up  the  steeps  of  Calvary 
and  upon  the  cross,  and  from  all  his  sorrows  and  sufferings  infer  something 
as  to  the  value  of  a  single  soid.  "What  is  a  man  profited  if  he  shall  gain  the 
whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul?"  He  may  gain  the  world,  rise  to  fame 
and  popularity,  acquire  wealth  and  scholarship,  attain  to  prominence  and 
power,  climb  to  the  very  pinnacle  of  human  glory,  and  yet  from  that  proud 
eminence  confess  that  his  achievements  of  glory  are  sources  of  sorrow  and 

disappointment  to  his  soul,  for  the  simple  reason 
■  that  the  world  can  never  give  the  bliss  for  which 
we  sigh,  and  especially  for  the  more  philosophic 
reason  that  the  hiiman  soul,  originally  created  in 
the  image  of  God,  can  never  be  happy  with  any- 
thing less  than  complete  restoration  to  the  bosom 
of  the  Father.  "I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake 
with  thy  likeness." 

Finally,  we  must  be  aggressive  in  our  efforts  to 
spread  the  gospel  and  save  souls;  we  m.ust  go  and 
preach — move  up  to  evei-y  opportunity  and  enter 
every  open  door.     The  promise  and  power  of  suc- 
imiiiMiniimiM^^^^  cess  in  winning  souls  is  never  found  in  a  merely 

g0^''Jr^^^^^^^^&  defensive  attitude,  no  matter  how  strong  the 
^  ■  '''•  a^^^^^^B  church  is  or  how  complete  its  equipment  may  be. 
The  army  that  would  win  victories  must  get  out 
of  the  trenches,  push  the  battle  in  the  open  field, 
and  even  scale  the  ramparts  and  plant  the  flag  of 
God  in  the  very  face  of  the  foe.  As  individuals 
and  churches,  we  must  never  be  satisfied  with  hav- 
ing merely  held  our  own,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
dangerous  and  deceitful  conceptions  that  we  can  possibly  have  of  our  religious 
life  and  labor.  Our  spiritual  vigor  and  effectiveness  depend  upon  an  aggres- 
sive response  to  the  moving  policy  of  the  gospel,  which  is  born  of  a  passion  for 
souls.  That  is  the  only  chance  we  have  to  weaken  the  forces  of  sin  and  multi- 
ply the  membership  of  God's  conquering  hosts.  The  crowning  equipment  for 
this  work,  so  far  as  the  human  side  is  concerned,  is  a  passion  for  souls.  We 
need  men  and  women  in  every  pew  and  pulpit — and,  by  the  way,  every  church, 
every  school,  every  social  circle,  every  fireside,  every  professional  engagement, 
every  business  relation,  is  an  altar  at  which  we  may  minister  in  holy  things — 
who  appreciate  the  value  of  souls  and  are  responsive  to  the  calls  and  claims  of 
the  gospel;  who  have  a  deep  and  tender  concern  for  those  who  sit  in  darkness; 
who  are  controlled  by  a  sense  of  personal  obligation  to  break  the  bread  of  life 
to  the  perishing;  who  have  enough  of  Christ  in  their  hearts  to  tenderly  sympa- 


REV.   C.    I.    U.    HRANE,   D.  D. 


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Union  Biblical  Seminary 

thize  with  labor  for  the  lowly  and  the  lost;  who  practice  self-denial  in  order  to 
save  money  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel;  who  have  a  consuming  ambition  to 
win  souls  and  are  frequently  found  in  secret  prayer  for  the  coming  of  Christ's 
kingdom. 

Our  business  is  to  win  the  world  to  a  better  life.  To  enter  successfully 
upon  that  mission  we  must  have  more  love  for  Christ  and  a  greater  solicitude 
for  lost  souls.  Moreover,  out  of  that  spirit  comes  the  sympathy  of  the  soul 
with  the  aggressive  policy  of  the  gospel,  "As  ye  go,  preach."  No  Christian 
can  consistently  refuse  obedience  to  that  command,  because  it  comes  froin  the 
King  himself.  It  clearly  indicates  our  personal  relation  to  the  work  of  giving 
the  gospel  to  others,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  and  yet  we  sometimes  hesitate 
in  the  spirit  of  unbelief  and  disobedience,  and  ask,  Am  I  my  brother's 
keeper?  Others  say  that  "God  is  too  good  to  punish  the  heathen,  or  to  con- 
demn us  for  not  sending  them  the  gospel."  Why  do  we  hesitate  in  the  pres- 
ence of  such  a  plain  command?  Is  it  love  or  faith  that  we  lack?  We  cannot 
countermand  our  marching  orders  by  simply  citing  the  mercy  of  God.  Of 
course  there  is  a  fullness  in  God's  mercy  like  the  wideness  of  the  sea,  but  it 
can  never  approve  such  presumption  and  willful  disobedience  on  our  part,  no 
matter  how  kindly  and  completely  it  may  cover  the  case- of  the  unlightened 
heathen. 

"Brightly  beams  our  Father's  mercy, 
From  his  light-hoixse  evermore, 
But  to  us  he  gives  the  keeping 
Of  the  light  along  the  shore." 

Then  "Let  the  lower  lights  be  burning, 

Send  a  gleam  across  the  wave; 
Some  poor  fainting,  struggling  seaman 
You  may  rescue,  you  may  save." 

Brethren,  let  us  take  up  this  commission  with  the  consecration  of  heart  and 
life,  and  push  the  battle  and  press  the  foe  till  every  inch  of  the  Master's  realm 
is  wrested  from  the  grasp  of  the  invader;  till  every  heathen  community,  and 
likewise  every  degraded  section  of  civilization,  is  flooded  with  the  light  and 
love  of  the  gospel;  till  every  boss-ridden,  graft-afflicted  city  in  the  common- 
wealth is  out  of  the  clutches  of  the  boodlers ;  till  the  last  saloon-cursed  com- 
munity in  the  land  is  delivered  from  licensed  sin,  and  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world  shall  have  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

The  man  who  is  ahead  of  his  time  in  spiritual  thought  and  feeling,  and  is 
aggressive  in  his  plans  and  purposes  to  serve  God  and  bless  humanity,  is 
sometimes  called  "a  crank"  by  those  who  are  not  summoned  by  the  sympa- 
thies of  the  cross;  but  the  fact  is,  he  is  called  of  God  to  occupy  the  places  of 
honor  and  responsibility  in  the  strife  of  truth  with  falsehood.  Let  him  rise 
in  his  place,  far  in  advance  of  the  slxiggish  column  of  Israel,  it  may  be,  and 
there  stand  and  flame  and  flash,  and  proclaim  the  outreaching,  overcoming, 
soul-saving  power  of  the  gospel  till  every  straggler  comes  bravely  up  to  the 
banner.  Then  and  there  we  shall  receive  a  Pentecostal  baptism  of  fire  that 
will  consume  our  indifFerence,  quicken  our  faith,  and  qualify  us  for  this  first 
charge  in  the  twentieth  century,  and  make  it  a  world-wide  victory  for  Christ. 

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Farewell  Message  by  Dr.  G.  S.  Funkhouser  to  the  Class  of  1906. 

Now,  brethren,  class  of  1906,  I  have  wondered,  after  three  years  of  close 
fellowship  in  the  Seminary,  and  the  teaching  I  have  done,  and  we  have  all 
done  in  the  faculty,  I  have  wondered  what  could  be  said  in  this  last  moment 
of  your  connection  with  the  Seminary  that  would  be  profitable.  I  have  won- 
dered what  I  would  want  said  to  me  if  I  were  standing  in  your  place.  I  was 
wondering,  if  this  were  the  last  word  you  were  to  hear  from  me,  what  that  last 
word  would  be;  if  you  were  my  sons,  what  I  would  want  my  sons  to  hear 
before  they  went  out  into  the  ministry  in  the  world.  And  I  have  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  this  would  be  the  word:  First  "preach  the  word;  be  instant 
in  season,  out  of  season,"  the  words  of  Paul.  That  should  be  my  last  counsel 
I  should  say  to  you.  In  this  way  you  will  have,  as  we  have  repeatedly  said, 
continued  and  increased  success  in  your  work.  I  refer  you  to  Chadwick,  Mor- 
gan, and  F.  B.  Meyer  as  examples  of  men  who  have  intensely  studied  the 
word  and  preach  it.  They  are  thus  gaining  strength  as  the  years  go  by.  The 
world  is  not  tired  of  it,  and  never  will  tire  of  it. 

W.  W.  White,  brother  of  J.  Campbell  White,  who  has  been  teaching  us  so 
ably  in  this  conference,  went  from  New  York  to  Baltimore  and  taught  the 
word  of  God  to  one  thousand  people.  The  service  was  simply  introduced  by 
a  word  of  prayer  and  a  very  short  opening  address ;  then  the  doors  were  closed 
and  nobody  could  gain  entrance  into  that  hall  on  any  account- — could  not 
beg  or  pay  their  way  in;  and  yet  a  thousand  people,  for  ten  weeks,  went  one 
night  a  week  and  paid  one  dollar  to  hear  this  man  concerning  the  word  of 
God.    So  men  will  even  pay  to  hear  the  word  of  God. 

I  should  say,  Preach  the  word.  In  order  to  preach  it,  you  must  study  it. 
Study  it  devotionally.  No  one  can  make  much  headway  otherwise.  Read  it, 
study  it,  first  for  yourself,  then  for  others;  nourish  your  own  heart,  and  then 
you  will  be  able  to  nourish  other  hearts.  By  the  way,  one  of  the  last  things 
Christ  said  was,  "I  have  given  them  thy  word."  He  seemed  to  get  great  satis- 
faction in  this  as  he  implored  the  Father,  "I  have  given  them  thy  word."  So 
may  you  close  your  ministry,  feeling  that  you  have  given  the  people  God's 
word.  Keeping  close  to  God's  truth  and  to  God  through  his  truth,  you  will 
have  a  low  estimate  of  yourself  and  your  own  ability;  you  will  be  humble. 
You  will  be  in  sympathy  with  the  word  and  with  God,  through  his  word. 

Some  ministers  are  so  unimpressed  by  even  the  needs  of  their  people.  This 
will  not  be  true  if  you  study  the  word  of  God  devotionally,  first  for  yourself 
and  then  for  others.  After  the  great  earthquake,  a  man  said  his  pastor  neither 
in  his  prayer  nor  in  his  sermon  made  any  reference  to  the  distress  caused  by 
the  earthquake.  His  references  were  four  to  Jiis  text  and  fifteen  to  himself, 
and  yet  in  that  pastor's  congregation  sat  persons  in  great  distress  because  of 
the  loved  ones  who  were  in  peril.    Keep  close  to  God  by  means  of  his  word. 

Do  you  notice  how  close  to  the  ground  the  dandelions  bloom  sometimes? 
Last  Saturday  evening  our  yard  was  full  of  dandelions,  and  we  went  to  work 
and  out  off  every  little  yellow  head  that  showed  itself,  lest  it  should  go  to  seed 
on  the  following  day  and  send  seeds  out  to  our  neighbor's  yards.  But  there  was 
a  refreshing  shower  on  Saturday  night,  and  on  Sunday  morning  1  looked  out 
and  saw  our  yard  was  just  as  yellow  as  it  was  the  evening  before.     And  these 

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Union  Biblical  Seminary 

dandelions  seemed  to  say,  "If  you  will  not  let  me  bloom  on  a  high  stalk,  I  will 
bloom  nearer  the  ground."  They  were  just  as  yellow  as  the  ones  we  had  cut  off. 
So  you  may  do  in  your  life.  If  you  may  not  occupy  the  high  places,  you  may 
be  beautiful  in  a  lower  place.    Study  the  word ;  preach  the  word. 

We  bid  you,  as  a  faculty.  Godspeed  in  the  great  work  to  which  He  has 
appointed  you,  believing  that  you  will  not  only  have  success,  but  abundant 
success.    May  God  bless  you. 


Prayer  by  Bishop  T.  C.  Carter. 

Almighty  God,  our  Heavenly  Father,  we  thank  thee  that  thou  hast  a  mes- 
sage to  bring  to  this  lost  world,  and  that  thou  hast  the  messengers  to  bear 
thy  truth  to  those  who  are  in  sin  and  in  darkness  and  in  the  shadow  of  death. 
We  thank  thee  thou  dost  count  these  worthy  to  put  them  into  the  ministry, 
calling  them  to  become  colaborers  with  thyself  to  help  save  the  lost  world. 
We  pray  thy  blessing  upon  each  of  them  as  they  take  upon  themselves  this 
hour  the  more  solemn  vows  of  the  ministry  connected  with  their  ordination. 
We  pray,  O  Lord,  they  may  go  out  this  hour  with  divine  chivalry  to  save  the 
world;  go  as  the  crusaders  of  the  Lord,  to  place  thy  banners  on  the  high  places 
and  to  help  bring  light  to  those  who  are  in  darkness.  O  Lord,  we  pray  for  a 
baptism  of  power  to  come  upon  them  at  this  moment,  that  they  may  be  humble 
and  faithful  and  true  in  all  their  ministerial  life ;  that  they  may  bear  in  their 
own  personality  that  which  shall  draw  men  from  sin  and  charm  them  to  the 
Savior  of  the  world. 

Bless  this  institution  in  which  they  have  been  trained,  the  president,  his 
associate  faculty,  the  trustees,  the  patrons,  and  all  who  are  engaged  in  the 
building  up  of  the  work.  Bless  the  entire  Church;  give  it  power  and  influ- 
ence, we  pray  thee,  this  year  in  revival  service,  an  influence  that  has  ever 
been  possible  in  connection  with  this  denomination.  Receive  us  at  last  in  the 
eternal  life  with  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen. 

Closing  Prayer  by  Bishop  G.  M.  Mathews. 

0  God,  our  gracious  Father,  thou  art  lifting  upon  iis  the  light  oi  thy  coun- 
tenance. Thou  art  wonderfully  interested  in  this  beautiful  scene  of  so  many 
young  men  coming,  at  the  close  of  their  Seminary  course,  with  the  rich  expe- 
riences enjoyed  these  years,  and  reaching  the  highest  point,  to  consecrate 
themselves  anew  and  fully  to  thee  in  thy  work.  Lord,  our  Savior,  thou  hast 
not  only  called  them  into  thy  kingdom,  but  into  special  service  to  proclaim 
the  everlasting  riches  of  the  gospel  of  ,Tesus  Christ  to  dying  men.  Thou  art 
always  profoundly  interested  in  young  life.  Thou  dost  look  down  upon  these 
young  men  with  peculiar  interest;  and,  as  thou  dost  look  forward  preparing 
the  way  for  them,  some  in  the  home  land  and  some  in  the  foreig-n,  wilt  thou 
open  upon  them  thy  life  and  power  and  blessed  sympathy.  O  God,  at  this 
moment  may  the  Holy  Spirit  descend  upon  them  as  the  Spirit  descended  upon 

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Bible  Conference  Addresses 

Jesus  in  the  form  of  a  dove,  and  give  them  great  tenderness  as  they  put  their 
hearts  to  the  task  that  is  upon  them.  Thou  art  more  than  ever  laying  upon 
them  the  burden  as  well  as  giving  them  the  privilege  of  preaching  the  gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ  to  dying  men.  May  this  be  an  hour  that  shall  be  remembered 
all  their  lives,  because  of  the  special  preparation  that  shall  come  to  their 
hearts  and  minds  in  this  consecration.  Bless  their  families,  their  mothers, 
brothers,  sisters,  some  of  whom  are  in  other  cities  and  praying  for  them  at 
this  time.  O  thou  blessed  Spirit,  wilt  thou  hear  the  prayers  of  mothers, 
fathers,  and  loved  ones  for  this  sacred  and  joyous  hour?  Some  in  foreign 
fields  and  some  in  the  home  land  are  to  go,  and  may  thou  open  the  way  that 
they  may  achieve  great  spiritual  victory.  We  ask  it  all  in  His  precious  name. 
Amen. 

Benediction  by  Dr.  C.  I.  B.  Brane. 


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§)unliap  Scorning;. 


Bishop  Bell's  Prayer. 

God  of  all  grace,  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Creator  of  the  universe, 
thou  hast  appointed  to  each  of  us  our  place  for  service.  Thou  hast  appointed 
to  us  our  day  of  privilege  and  power.  We  are  all  in  subordination  to  thee. 
Thou  hast  accorded  to  us  the  gleaming  harvest  fields  and  the  glad  privilege  of 
doing  what  we  may  in  the  midst  of  all  this  stimulating  opportunity  with 
which  we  are  environed.  We  offer  in  thy  sight,  this  morning,  glad  thanksgiving 
and  praise.  We  delight  in  thy  character.  Our  hearts  would  praise  thee  be- 
cause thou  art  who  thou  art,  and  because  from  thy  throne  of  infinite  power, 
love,  and  justice  thoii  dost  rule  in  the  affairs  of  men.  Whatever  may  be 
beyond  our  world,  in  the  universe  of  which  we  are  a  part,  we  may  not  know; 
but  we  thank  thee  that  upon  our  world  has  been  flashed  the  compassion  of  the 
Infinite  Father.  We  thank  thee  that  light  has  been  shed  from  the  upper  world, 
even  from  heaven  above.  We  adore  thee  for  all  the  sweet  mystery  of  the  incar- 
nation, and  for  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord.  We  praise 
thee  that  he  has  been  exalted  before  the  faith  of  the  race  in  all  the  ages  as  the 
center  of  the 'world's  hope,  the  source  of  its  life  and  power,  the  guaranty  of 
restored  manhood,  a  redeemed  race  in  a  blissful  immortality. 

We  would  not  fail  of  glad  thanlisgiving  for  the  more  than  one  hundred 
years  of  significant  history  that  has  characterized  our  own  denominational 
life.  We  thank  thee  that  thou  hast  fostered  through  all  these  years  the 
organic  life  of  our  body,  as  we  also  thank  thee  for  thy  care  and  blessing  over 
all  Christendom.  We  thanl?  thee  for  thy  heart  of  love  that  pulses  in  the  love 
of  Christian  men  all  around  the  world  to-day.  We  rejoice  in  the  honor  that 
brings  us  into  copartnership  with  thyself  in  all  the  good  work  of  the  age  in 
which  we  live. 

We  remember  our  relationship  to  the  great  Republic  of  which  we  are  a  part. 
We  recall  with  profound  thanksgiving  thy  providence  in  our  national  life. 
We  are  American  citizens,  and  as  those  who  rejoice  in  their  inheritance  we 
invoke  thy  blessing  upon  our  Republic  to-day.  Recently  there  has  come  to  a 
part  of  our  country  a  great  calamity,  that  has  brought  sorrow  and  death  and 
privation  to  thousands  of  homes.  We  thanlv  thee  that  no  sooner  was  the  cal- 
amity known,  and  even  before  the  work  of  destruction  was  complete,  than  it 
was  graciously  mitigated  by  the  outflow  of  hiiman  kindness,  affection,  and 
relief,  from  the  four  comers  of  the  earth.  We  thank  thee  that  in  such  an  hour 
there  came  the  outburst  of  human  brotherhood,  the  rapid  riishing  of  relief 
trains,  the  concentration  of  nurses  and  physicians.  We  thank  thoe  that  our 
civilization  is  perva:ded  so  largely  by  these  generous  impulses  of  brotherhood, 
and  by  these  strong  ties  of  common  kinship.    We  pray  thy  blessing  upon  suf- 

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•fering  California  to-day.  Grant  to  bind  up  broken  hearts,  to  restore  smitten 
institutions,  and  to  steady  the  faith  of  tried  hearts.  May  there  come  out  of 
this  disaster  cities  more  beautiful  and  pure,  institutions  more  Christian  and 
humane,  business  fenteriDrises  more  stable  and  helpful. 

We  thank  thee  for  the  testimony  of  our  President  to  righteovisness.  We  in- 
voke thy  blessing  upon  him  to-day  as  our  chief  magistrate.  We  pray  that  he 
shall  be  guided,  controlled,  sustained,  directed  in  all  righteousness,  and  for  the 
execution  of  thy  highest  will  in  our  national  life.  We  pray  thee  that  justice 
and  righteousness  shall  be  begotten  in  the  conscience,  habits,  and  customs  of 
our  people  as  never  before. 

We  are  reminded  that  we  worship  to-day  in  the  great  commonwealth  of 
Ohio.  We  thank  thee  for  the  Christian  statesmanship  that  has  been  exempli- 
fied in  the  governor  of  this  State.  We  thank  thee  for  the  definite  and  potent 
influence  which  he  is  exerting  in  behalf  of  the  enforcement  of  law,  and  the 
promotion  of  sobriety  and  peace.  We  pray  thy  blessing  upon  him  to-day. 
Though  now  afflicted,  may  it  please  thee,  O  God,  to  restore  him  to  health  and 
strength.  May  he  be  spared  to  minister  for  righteousness  in  the  days  that  are 
to  come. 

We  thank  thee  that  we  feel  a  kinship  in  our  hearts  with  every  organization 
of  Christian  men  and  women  in  the  world  to-day.  We  invoke  thy  Spirit  and 
grace  upon  the  chiirch  universal.  May  the  divine  life  abound  in  the  souls  of 
men,  until  all  nations  shall  be  lifted  up  unto  thee. 

In  the  midst  of  these  significant  environments,  on  this  special  occasion,  we 
would  come  with  glad  homage  and  praise  for  thy  loving-kindness.  We  thanlv 
thee  for  an  hour  of  such  thrilling  interest,  that  brings  together  this  representa- 
tive gathering  of  our  churches  with  the  graduates  of  the  Seminary,  our  insti- 
tution of  sacred  learning.  We  thank  thee  for  this  annual  occasion,  which 
brings  to  these  students  the  completion  of  their  course  of  special  training, 
which  brings  them  to  the  moment  of  farewell  to  faculty  and  fellow-students, 
which  projects  them  into  a  life  of  privilege  and  peril  in  our  great  nation  and 
the  regions  beyond.  Such  a  moment  bids  us  readjust  ourselves  to  our  own  most 
sacred  vows,  to  our  faith  and  our  supremest  love  to  thee.  We  pray  thy  bless- 
ing, therefore,  first  of  all,  upon  these  young  men,  who  go  forth  from  this  insti- 
tution in  the  class  of  this  year,  to  do  thy  work  in  the  world.  May  it  please 
thee.  Almighty  God,  to  grant  them  this  morning,  in  the  overwhelming  sacred- 
ness  of  thishour,  the  anointing  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  May  it  be  that  upon  them  ' 
shall  come  just  now  thy  Spirit  in  gracious  measure.  Inasmuch  as  we  influence 
others  by  what  we  are  more  than  by  what  we  say,  we  pray  that  the  Spirit  of 
God  shall  work  in  these  young  men  the  miracle  of  spiritual  transformation, 
the  imparting  of  Christ's  likeness.  May  they  each  come  to  the  realization  of 
such  heart  affinity  with  God  as  shall  make  them  influential  under  the  training 
which  they  have  received  in  preaching  the  gospel  of  Christ  throughout  the 
earth.  We  would  implore  thy  abundant  blessing  upon  the  Seminary,  upon  its 
faculty,  upon  all  who  are  associated  with  it,  its  general  manager,  and  those 
who  solicit  for  it.  Grant  to  give  wisdom  and  strength,  life,  light,  and  power. 
We  pray  that  more  and  more  there  shall  come  into  the  hearts  of  our  people  a 
prayerful  passion  for  the  calling  and  training  of  ministers  and  missionaries, 
who  shall  go  out  from  us  as  the  heralds  of  Christ. 

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Grant  thy  blessing  upon  our  Printing  Establishment — upon  its  manager, 
its  employees,  its  products,  to  the  end  that  in  its  great  work  it  may  exert  a 
holy  influence  for  the  healing  of  the  nations.  May  it  please  thee  to  grant  thy 
immediate  presence  in  this  service,  and  that  thy  servant  who  shall  speak  to  us 
may  be  thy  mouthpiece  for  this  occasion.  May  the  message  that  he  shall  bring 
be  satisfying,  illuminating,  and  permeated  throughout  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 
And  now  grant  to  take  charge  of  us  in  all  "our  relationships.  Keep  us  safely 
and  steadily  in  obedience  to  thy  sovereign  will  as  long  as  we  may  live  and 
toil  for  thee.  Prepare  us  for  the  splendid  blessedness  of  the  life  which  is  to 
come,  and  grant  that  we  may  daily  grow  in  the  power  and  communion  of  our 
Lord.  Help  us  to  publish  and  bear  witness  to  his  power  to  save  a  sinning 
race  and  grant  that  thy  divine  love  shall  inflame  our  hearts  everywhere  as  a 
denomination,  and  lead  us  to  choose  and  accomplish  the  best  things  for  thy 
kingdom  on  earth.  Give  thy  blessing  to  this  goodly  city  in  which  we  are 
assembled,  and  to  all  whom  we  should  remember  at  this  moment  of  our  suppli- 
cation. Call  us  to  thyself  in  fellowship  and  communion  for  all  the  days  of  our 
earthly  pilgrimage.  May  our  lives  be  fruitful,  patient,  and  courageous.  Bring 
us  ultimately  through  thy  benediction  to  thy  presence  and  glory,  and  to  the 
rewards  of  the  life  everlasting  permit  us  all  to  come  gladly,  joyously,  and 
triumphantly,  in  Jesus'  name.    Amen. 

Address  of  J.  Campbell  White. 

^'Onr  Personal  Relation   to  the    World's    Redemption.'' 

I  could  not  get  the  consent  of  my  mind  to  speak  on  any  other  theme  this 
morning  than  our  personal  relation  to  the  world's  redemption.  Martin  Luther 
said  at  one  time,  "If  any  one  would  knock  on  the  door  of  my  breast  and  ask, 
'Who  lives  here?'  I  would  not  reply,  'Martin  Luther,'  but  would  say,  'The 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.' "  It  was  an  entirely  Scriptural  idea  of  his  life.  Many 
centuries  before,  the  great  Apostle  Paul  said,  "I  am  crucified  with  Christ: 
nevertheless  I  live;  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me." 

The  most  inspiring  thotight  that  ever  takes  possession  of  any  human  soul 
is  that  our  mission  in  this  world  is  a  part  of  the  mission  of  Jesus  Christ; 
that  the  work  which  he  began  to  do  while  here,  he  is  now  continuing 
to  do  through  us  as  his  ambassadors.  Did  he  not  say,  "As  long  as  I  am  in  the 
world,  I  am  the  light  of  the  world  ?"  Yet  before  he  went  away  he  said,  "Ye 
are  the  light  of  the  world" ;  and  on  the  evening  of  the  resurrection  he  said  to 
his  disciples,  "As  my  Father  hath  sent  me  into  the  world,  even  so  send  I  you." 
According  to  our  Master's  thought,  your  mission  and  mine  is  to  be  merely 
the  continuation  and  completion  of  his  own  divine  work ;  and  while  it  will 
forever  remain  triie  that  Christ  alone  can  save  this  world,  it  is  equally  true 
that  according  to  his  own  divine  plan  Christ  cannot  save  this  world  alone.  He 
counts  on  your  help  and  mine  as  absolutely  essential  to  the  carrying  out  of 
his  plan;  and  only  so  far  as  we  willingly  cooperate  with  him  is  it  possible  for 
him  to  save  this  world.  This  is  the  only  explanation  of  the  fact  that  all  the 
centuries  have  gone  by  since  he  gave  his  commission,  and  that  still  a  large 

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proportion  of  the  world  does  not  know  him.  People  professing  to  know  him 
have  been  so  much  absorbed  with  their  own  affairs  that  they  have  not  sought 
first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  the  only  reason  to-day 
why  Christianity  does  not  possess  the  world  is  because  Christ  does  not  possess 
Christians.  '  His  plan  for  the  redemption  of  the  world  was  made  unmis- 
takably clear  in  three  sentences  that  are  recorded  in  the  thirteenth  chap- 
ter of  Matthew,  where  he  said,  "He  that  soweth  the  good  seed  is  the  Son 
of  man;  the  field  is  the  world;  the  good  seed  are  the  children  of  the  kingdom" 
— ourselves.  When  he  said  the  field  is  the  world,  he  included  America,  he  in- 
cluded Europe,  and  Africa,  and  Asia,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  earth.  There  is 
to  him  no  home  field  and  no  foreign  field.  E\'ery  man  everywhere  needs* 
Christ,  and  no  man  anywhere  can  be  saved  apart  from  him;  and  the  supreme 
work  of  every  man  everywhere  who  knows  him  is  to  make  him  known  to  every 
other  man  everywhere.  And  only  so  far  as  Ave  are  entering  into  this  spirit 
and  doing  this  thing  are  we  reincarnating  the  spirit  of  Christ  and  carrying 
out  his  divine  purpose  for  our  lives.  Only  so  far  as  we  are  doing  this  thing 
are  we  living  a  life  that  will  satisfy  either  him  or  us  when  we  meet  him  face 
to  face. 

I  remember  very  well  when  I  was  a  boy  working  on  ray  father's  farm, 
having  illustrated  to  me  one  time  the  different  results  that  might  follow  from 
the  right  and  wrong  planting  of  seed.  Some  of  you  probably  have  worked  on 
farms,  and  know  something  about  seed-time  in  the  spring,  when  the  boys  go 
out  to  plant  corn.  We  planted  it  in  the  old-fashioned  way  twenty-five  years 
ago,  one  of  the  small  boys  going  along  with  a  pail  full  of  corn  and  dropping 
three  or  four  kernels  in  a  hill,  and  some  larger  person  coming  behind  and 
covering  it  up  with  the  hoe.  When  along  in  the  middle  of  a  gravelly  field 
where  I  was  dropping  corn  I  made  some  kiud  of  a  misstep  and  stumbled  and 
spilled  about  a  double-handful  of  it.  The  grains  went  bounding  off  among  the 
clods  and  sand  in  a  way  that  was  rather  disconcerting  to  a  boy  of  nine  or  ten 
years.  I  stood  there  for  a  moment  or  so,  arguing  with  myself  whether  I 
should  go  to  the  trouble  of  picking  it  up,  or  simply  make  short  work  of  it  by 
covering  it  up.  I  don't  know  what  you  would  have  done  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances, but  I  covered  it  up  [laughter],  not  seeming  to  thinlc  that  this 
would  come  up  just  like  the  rest.  But  in  two  or  three  weeks,  when  we  came 
along  to  cultivate  the  corn,  this  had  come  up  just  as  high  as  that  which  had 
been  deliberately  planted;  but  it  had  all  been  thrown  in  there  in  a  heap,  and 
the  stalks  were  standing  so  close  together  that  they  scarcely  had  room.  It 
could  never  possibly  grow  to  maturity  in  that  kind  of  way,  and  there  was  all 
the  corn  planted  in  the  hills  that  could  ever  grow  on  that  amount  of  space, 
and  anyhow  the  cultivator  had  to  go  along  between  those  rows,  so  this 
couldn't  be  allowed  to  remain  there.  I  remember  thinking  what  a  waste  it 
was,  as  it  all  had  to  be  pulled  up  and  thrown  away.  That  amount  of  corn 
planted  out  in  some  unoccupied  part  of  the  field  would  have  produced  seed- 
corn  enough  to  have  planted  the  whole  farm  the  next  year,  and  planted  again, 
would  have  had  seed  enough  to  have  planted  the  whole  of  Wayne  County  the 
next  year,  and  by  the  next  year  we  might  have  planted  the  whole  State  of  Ohio 
with  corn.    But,  planted  where  it  was,  it  was  absolutely  useless. 

It  depends  tremendously  upon  whei'e  a  life  is  planted  how  much  the  harvest 

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is  going  to  be!  The  sons  of  the  kingdom  are  the  seed  of  the  kingdom,  and 
must  be  planted  all  over  the  world-field  if  we  are  going  to  have  a  world-wide 
harvest  for  God.  It  would  be  just  as  rational  for  the  farmers  of  this 
county  to  sit  quietly  in  their  houses  this  spring  and  pray  for  a  big  crop  of 
corn  next  fall  without  ever  turning  a  furrow  or  planting  a  seed,  as  it  is  for 
the  church  of  Christ  to  pray,  "Thy  kingdom  come,"  and  sit  down  and  do 
nothing  and  expect  it  to  come. 

There  is  another  parable  in  this  same  book  of  Matthew  that  speaks  of  the 
good  seed  being  the  Word  of  God.  It  is  true  that  this  is  the  seed  which  must 
be  planted  in  the  hearts  of  men  everywhere  before  any  spiritual  harvest  can 
Spring  up  in  their  lives.  But  before  this  seed-sowing  becomes  possible  this 
other  seed-sowing  must  take  place  by  the  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ  being  sent 
everywhere  throughout  the  world-wide  field,  and  that  seed-sowing  has  not  yet 
taken  place;  and  we  dare  not  pray  for  a  world-wide  harvest  until  it  does. 
The  point  at  which  to  direct  our  prayers  is  the  point  still  which  our  Master 
indicated  when  he  said,  "The  harvest  truly  is  great,  but  the  labourers  are  few : 
pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he  would  send  forth  labourers 
into  his  harvest;"  and  when  that  prayer  is  answered,  we  may  then  well  ask 
that  God  will  so  empower  those  messengers  of  his,  and  so  speak  through  them 
his  mighty  truth,  that  it  may  find  lodgment  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  hear, 
and  that  all  the  world  may  turn  away  from  its  bondage  and  degradation  of 
sin  into  the  glorious  light  and  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God. 

But  the  seed-sowing  must  come  before  the  harvest.  It  is  true  that  there  is 
vast  need  in  America;  one  fourth  only  of  the  people  in  this  Christian  land  of 
purs  are  Christians  really  in  the  sense  of  being  members  of  the  Protestant 
Christian  church.  To  every  one  of  us  who  to-day  is  rejoicing  in  fellowship 
with  Christ  there  are  three  people  somewhere  in  America  who  are  outside  of 
the  kingdom.  There  is  a  vast  work  for  the  church  to  do.  Every  denomination 
in  our  country  has  a  home  missionary  field  equal  to  three  times  its  own  mem- 
bership. If  each  denomination  takes  merely  its  own  average,  our  little  United 
Presbyterian  Chiarch,  with  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  members,  has 
a  home  mission  field  of  about  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  people 
to  reach ;  and  we  are  going  to  plan  more  definitely  than  ever  before  actually  to 
reach  them  and  give  them  a  chance  to  be  saved.  Your  United  Brethren 
Church,  with  a  quarter  of  a  million  members,  would  have  three-quarters  of  a 
million  of  a  home  missionary  field;  and  I  hope  as  the  years  go  on  you  will 
reach  out  in  larger  and  more  aggressive  activity,  reaching  them  by  the  twenty- 
five  or  forty  or  fifty  thousand  a  year,  until  you  win  that  whole  three-qviarters 
of  a  million  to  Jesus  Christ.  There  is  no  possible  excuse  for-  our  not  doing 
this  thing.  Is  there  any  exciise  for  any  man  or  woman  of  us  who  knows 
Christ  not  trying  to  introduce  him  to  some  of  our  friends  who  do  not  know 
him,  every  year?  and  would  it  be  a  very  great  thing  if  in  a  single  year  each  of 
us  were  to  introduce  Christ  to  three  of  our  brother-men  ?  If  all  the  churches 
of  America  woiild  do  that,  we  might  evangelize  this  nation  from  one  ocean  to 
the  other  in  twelve  months.  And  why  is  it  impossible  for  iis  to  save 
America?  There  is  no  impossibility  about  it  unless  it  is  impossible  for  us  to 
obey  our  Lord.  (Voices,  "Aiuen.")  It  will  not  depend  entirely  upon  so-called 
home  missionary  agencies,  although  they  are  absolutely  vital  to  the  complete 

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Bible  Conference  Addresses 

success  of  the  enterprise.  All  of  the  bishops  who  are  here  to-day  might  speak 
each  in  turn  about  destitute  fields  in  the  part  of  the  country  from  which  they 
come,  where  they  do  not  have  adequate  religious  opporttinities ;  and  we  must 
go  on  extending  all  these  aggressive  home  missionary  and  educational  agencies 
in  order  to  raise  up  a  number  of  trained  leaders  for  the  aggressive  work  of 
the  church  at  home  and  abroad,  and  for  the  occupation  of  unoccupied  parts 
of  our  land.  But  the  great  bulk  of  all  the  work  that  any  church  can  do  in 
America  for  its  redemption  must  be  done  by  you  and  me  in  our  own  com- 
munities; and  the  probability  is  that  at  least  three- fourths  of  all  the  work 
could  be  done  in  America  without  any  added  expense  at  all  if  you  and  I  and 
other  members  of  the  church  of  Christ  were  to  do  what  we  can  in  the  com- 
munities where  we  live.  Probably  the  other  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  un- 
occupied field  will  have  to  be  occupied  by  our  sending  out,  through  our  gifts 
and  our  representatives,  the  gospel  to  the  destitute  parts  of  this  land.  Are  we 
not  willing  to  do  it?  Are  we  patriots  at  all?  How  much  are  we  doing  in  dol- 
lars and  cents  for  the  redemption  of  America?  This  denomination  is  doing, 
I  am  told,  considerably  less  than  an  average  of  two  cents  a  week  for  the  re- 
demption of  America.  Is  that  our  best  ?  A  postage  stamp  a  week — something 
less  than  that — for  the  redemption  of  America. 

But  America  isn't  the  only  field.  The  fact  is  that  all  the  rest  of  the  world 
depends  on  Christian  America  more  than  on  any  other  land  for  its  light,  and 
we  need  to  realize  that  we  are  not  merely  a  world-power  in  the  sense  of  a 
political  power,  but  preeminently  a  world-power  as  a  representative  of  Jesus 
Christ  for  the  spiritual  redemption  of  the  world;  and  the  denominations  and 
individuals  who  fail  to  recognize  that  are  simply  narrowing  the  sphere  in 
which  God  meant  them,  to  live,  and  can  never  by  any  possibility  liave  the  in- 
fluence or  become  the  men  and  women  that  God  means  them  to  become;  for 
the  only  way  we  can  ever  be  all  that  God  wants  us  to  be  is  to  imdertake  to  do 
that  which  he  wants  us  to  do.  It  is  by  doing  in  the  fear  and  in  the  strength 
of  God  that  men  become  what  he  meant  them  to  become. 

As  we  look  out  over  the  rest  of  the  world,  even  after  all  these  centuries  of 
Christian  activity,  we  find  that  two-thirds  of  the  human  race  are  in  non- 
Christian  lands.  Of  the  fifteen  hundred  millions  of  people  living  in  the 
world  to-day,  a  thousand  millions  of  them  are  in  lands  where  Christ  is  not 
known  except  as  he  is  known  through  the  representatives  of  the  Christian 
churches.  How  largely  has  the  whole  Christian  church  entered  into  this  field 
and  attempted  to  occupy  and  evangelize  it?  There  are  in  all  the  world  to-day 
something  less  than  fifteen  thousand  representatives  of  all  Protestant  mis- 
sionary countries  and  churches.  In  order  that  there  might  be  one  missionary 
among  every  twenty-five  thoiisand  heathens,  there  would  need  to  be  forty 
thousand  such  workers  in  all  the  world.  What  does  that  mean?  It  means 
that  there  are  twenty-five  thousand  districts  to-day  in  non-Christian  lands, 
every  one  of  them  containing  twenty-five  thousand  individuals,  without  any 
worker  at  all  among  them.  Think  of  that  for  a  moment!  TVenty-five  thou- 
sand districts,  every  one  of  them  containing  twenty-five  thousand  people, 
without  a  worker,  without  a  representative  of  Jesus  Christ!  Is  tliat  the  best 
we  can  do  ?  And  what  is  the  moral  and  spiritual  condition  of  these  myriads  ? 
I  have  brought  with  me  two  or  three  symbols  of  non-Christian  religions  which 

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Union  Biblical  8eminq/ry 

I  would  like  to  show  you.  I  think  people  very  often  learn  more  through  such 
means  than  through  words.  I  have  a  picture  here  that  I  got  at  Calcutta,  a 
picture  not  made  by  missionaries,  but  a  picture  made  by  Hindoos  to  represent 
their  own  religion.  The  main  feature  of  it  is  a  cow.  The  Hindoos  worship 
the  cow  as  the  most  sacred  thing  in  the  world.  There  is  only  one  other  idea 
so  generally  prevalent  as  that  in  their  system  of  religion :  that  is  the  absolute 
degradation  of  all  women.  Imagine  two  lies  like  that  upon  which  is  built  the 
religious  faith  of  more  than  two  hundred  millions  of  people — the  sacredness  of 
the  cow  and  the  degradation  of  women.  Those  figiires  in  the  attitude  of  wor- 
ship in  front  of  the  cow  represent  Hindoos.  The  man  with  his  hands  before 
his  face  is  in  the  attitude  that  all  Hindoos  take  when  they  worship  their  gods. 
The  woman  also  represents  India  worshiping  through  flowers,  fruit,  and  in- 
cense, this  sacred  animal.  Around  over  the  picture  are  forty  or  fifty  of 
the  gods  that  the  Hindoos  worship;  but  these  are  only  a  few  samples  of  the 
three  hundred  and  thirty  millions  of  gods  that  they  profess  to  worship.  There 
are  over  three  hundred  millions  of  people,  and  there  are  thirty  raillions  more 
of  gods  than  individuals.  A  man  might  have  a  different  god  every  day  of  his 
life,  and  live  one  thousand  years,  and  only  worship  a  few  of  them ;  and  among 
all  these  gods  there  wasn't  one  that  lived  a  decent  life.  Among  the  most  popu- 
lar was  the  god  Krishna,  who  lived  so  immoral  a  life,  according  to  the  state- 
ment in  their  books,  that  it  is  impossible  to  translate  it  into  the  English  lan- 
guage. If  anybody  did  it  they  would  be  prosecuted  for  publishing  obscene 
literature.  You  will  notice  the  serpent  on  the  tail  of  the  cow,  because  many 
Hindoos  worship  snakes.  The  whole  picture  represents  the  husks  and  ashes 
upon  which  more  than  two  hundred  millions  of  our  fellow-men  are  trying  to 
feed  their  hungry  hearts  to-day. 

I  saw  a  Hindoo' go  past  my  door.  He  had  held  his  right  hand  clenched  in 
that  way  [clenches  fist]  until  the  nails  as  they  grew  pierced  the  flesh,  finally 
penetrated  clear  through  the  back  of  his  hand,  and  then,  as  they  grew  longer 
and  longer,  turned  clear  up  around  his  knuckles  again,  longer  than  any  bird's 
claws  you  ever  saw,  tying  his  hand  into  a  hideous,  useless  knot  for  the  rest  of 
his  life.  Oh,  my  brother  men,  if  you  knew  the  untold  suffering  of  heathen 
lands  to-day  inflicted  voluntarily  for  the  sake  of  finding  something  to  satisfy 
heart  hunger,  it  would  break  your  heart,  and  you  would  feel  that  the  only 
thing  to  live  for  the  rest  of  your  life,  if  you  have  any  element  of  humanity  in 
you,  to  say  nothing  of  any  element  of  divinity,  is  to  give  your  utmost  efforts 
to  the  relieving  of  the  sufferings  that  must  always  accompany  a  degraded  form 
of  worship. 

I  have  with  me  here  also  a  symbol  of  Buddhism,  a  machine  by  which  the 
people  say  their  prayers.  Underlying  all  non-Christian  religions  is  the  idea 
that  prayer  is  merely  a  method  of  work,  and  they  don't  consider  it  communion 
with  God  at  all.  It  is  a  way  of  attaining  merit  by  doing  a  whole  lot  of  work, 
and  so  the  Mohammedan  counts  off  his  prayers  five  times  a  day,  and  the 
Hindoo  counts  the  beads  to  see  how  many  times  he  has  repeated  the  names  of 
one  of  these  hideous  gods,  and  the  Buddhist  has  gone  so  far  as  to  make  a 
machine  on  which  he  can  say  his  prayers  more  easily  and  rapidly.  Here  is 
one  of  the  machines,  and  it  shows  how  the  Buddhist  prays.  There  is  a  piece 
of  paper  on  which  one  prayer  has  been  printed  over  and  over  a  number  of 

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Bihle  Conference  Addresses 

times.  The  idea  is  that  every  revolution  of  this  wheel  is  a  repetition  of  all 
the  prayers  printed  on  the  inside;  and  when  I  first  saw  this  wheel  it  was  in 
the  hands  of  a  Buddhist  priest  who  was  walking  along  revolving  it  in  this 
fashion,  while  he  smoked  his  pipe,  and  looked  around  over  a  very  beautiful 
landscape,  and  talked  to  his  friends,  and  went  on  saying  his  prayers  as  a  sort 
of  side  issue.  They  carry  the  idea  to  yet  further  absurdity  all  over  Thibet  by 
making  those  wheels  on  a  larger  scale,  often  as  large  as  a  barrel,  and  filling 
them  up  with  yards  and  yards  of  this  same  printed  nonsense ;  and  then,  to  save 
anybody  the  trouble  of  turning  it,  they  locate  it  along  the  side  of  some  moun- 
tain stream  and  rig  it  up  to  a  water-wheel  that  keeps  it  going  around  day 
after  day  without  any  effort  on  the  part  of  anybody.  I  suppose  that  might  be 
described  as  prayer  by  the  barrel  and  prayer  by  water-power.  But  we  all 
understand  perfectly  well  that  there  is  no  prayer  about  it  at  all,  and  among  all 
the  sad  things  in  the  world  to-day,  and  there  are  some  that  are  very  sad — I 
suppose  Bishop  Bell  could  tell  us  about  some  very  sad  things  out  in  San 
Francisco,— but  of  all  the  sad  things  in  the  world  to-day,  I  don't  know  of  any- 
thing quite  so  sad  as  this,  that  two  people  out  of  every  three  in  all  the  world, 
every  one  of  them  needing  God  as  much  as  I  do,  do  not  know  how  to  find  him. 
I  am  perfectly  sure  that  my  little  four-year-old  baby  girl,  who  kneels  down 
each  day  by  her  mother's  knee  and  speaks  to  God,  has  a  far  better  idea  of  what 
prayer  is  in  its  essence  than  the  old  gray-headed  grandfathers  and  grand- 
mothers all  over  India  and  China  and  Africa,  who  do  not  even  know  how  to 
pray.  Isn't  it  a  very  strange  thing  that  when  you  and  I  do  know  how,  and 
know  that  we  have  a  God  who  can  hear  and  who  can  do,  and  who  has  told  us 
that  the  solution  of  this  whole  problem  depends  on  prayer — isn't  it  a  very 
strange  thing  that  ever  we  allow  twenty-four  hours  to  go  by  without  from  our 
hearts  looking  up  into  his  face  and  saying,  "Lord,  thy  kingdom  come,  thy  will 
be  done  in  all  the  world  even  as  it  is  done  in  heaven,"  and  then  living  as  we 
pray? 

I  have  here  a  symbol  of  paganism.  Our  newest  mission  station  is  away  up 
in  the  heart  of  Africa.  I  was  up  there  visiting  o\ir  mission  work,  and  brought 
back  a  complete  lady's  outfit  [holding  up  a  piece  of  cloth],  from  our  mission 
station  at  Khartoum.  We  need  not  very  long  look  at  a  woman's  attire  of 
that  sort  without  getting  a  little  picture  of  the  moral  and  physical  and 
spiritual  condition  prevailing  among  tens  of  millions  of  our  brothers  and 
sisters,  and  of  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  Jesus  Christ  whom  he  cared  enough 
for  to  lay  down  his  life  that  they  might  enter  into  likeness  to  his.  If  your 
mother,  or  your  sister,  or  your  wife,  or  your  daughter  were  somewhere  in  the 
world,  doomed  to  that  kind  of  life,  to  that  kind  of  dress,  how  much  would  you 
be  able  to  do  to  rescue  one  whom  you  loved?  Our  Lord  says  witJi  reference 
to  every  one  of  these  poor  women  and  the  more  degraded  men  who  live  around 
them,  "Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren, 
ye  have  done  it  unto  me."  Can  we  not  do  for  him  as  much  as  we  would  do  for 
a  loved  human  friend? 

I  have  here  also  a  symbol  of  Mohammedanism,  one  of  the  great  non-Chris- 
tian religions  of  the  world.  It  is  a  Mohammedan  slave-driver's  whip,  which 
1  brought  with  me  also  from  Khartoum,  where  the  slave  traffic  has  grown 
and    prospered    for    two    hundred    and    fifty    years.      It    was    brought    from 

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Union  Biblical  Seminary 

the  center  of  that  traffic,  I  have  used  it  as  a  symbol  of  Mohammedanism  be- 
cause that  religion  believes  in  slavery.  The  Koran,  the  Mohammedan  sacred 
book,  authorizes  every  Mohammedan  man  to  have  four  wives,  and  change 
them  as  often  as  he  likes,  and  in  addition  to  that  to  have  an  unlimited 
number  of  female  slaves;  and  to  satisfy  this  outrageous  lust  inhuman  men 
have  been  sent  off  into  those  parts  of  the  world  where  slave-trading  was  tol- 
erated, to  burn  and  kill  and  ravish  and  capture;  and  when  David  Livingstone 
and  "Chinese"  Gordon  went  to  the  heart  of  Africa,  to  lay  down  their 
lives  if  necessary,  they  estimated  that  not  less  than  five  hundred  thou- 
sand slaves  were  being  carried  out  of  the  country  each  year,  and  about 
three  times  that  number  being  butchered  in  connection  with  slavery,  a  total 
of  about  two  millions  a  year  either  enslaved  or  slaughtered.  I  suppose  no 
other  equal  portion  of  the  earth's  surface  has  been  so  literally  soaked  in  human 
blood  as  all  that  part  of  Africa.  The  spirit  of  Mohammedanism  v/as  brought 
out  a  few  years  ago  when  a  man  at  the  head  of  the  Mohammedan  church, 
the  Khalifa,  captured  a  man  one  day  whom  he  thought  had  some  money; 
and  in  order  to  get  him  to  tell  where  his  money  was  hidden,  that  he  might 
steal  it,  he  ordered  him  to  have  a  thousand  strokes  with  a  whip  like  that,  on 
his  bare  back  of  course,  every  stroke  raising  blisters,  if  it  didn't  actually  cut 
the  flesh.  As  the  man  refused  to  tell,  he  had  a  thousand  strokes  more  on  the 
second  day,  and  on  the  third  day  another  thousand  more,  imtil  he  \\'as  literally 
beaten  almost  to  pieces.  One  would  suppose  that  even  Mohammedan  bmtality 
would  have  exhausted  itself  by  measures  like  that,  b\it  as  the  man  still  dog- 
gedly refused  to  say  where  his  money  was  hidden,  preferring,  if  necessary,  to 
give  up  life,  the  Khalifa  ordered  that  his  wounds  be  poiired  full  of  a  strong 
solution  of  salt  water  and  Sudan  pepper  water,  that  through  this  manner  of 
treatment  he  might  be  led  to  reveal  the  place  of  the  treasure.  A  soldier  who 
had  been  captured  and  kept  there  as  a  slave  for  more  than  ten  years,  seeing 
the  outrageous  treatment  to  which  this  man  was  being  subjected,  came  to  the 
Khalifa  and  begged  the  privilege  of  waiting  on  him  in  his  agony.  The  Khalifa 
said,  "On  one  condition  I  will  grant  you  the  privilege."  What  do  you 
suppose  the  condition  was?  It  was  the  greatest  humiliation  to  which  one 
man  is  capable  of  subjecting  another.  He  said,  "If  you  will  prostrate  yo^^r- 
self  on  your  face  at  my  feet,  asking  this  request,  I  will  grant  it."  Would  you 
have  done  it?  Enough  of  the  spirit  of  our  Master  had  come  into  the  heart  of 
this  man  to  lead  him  instantly  to  prostrate  himself  on  his  face  at  the  feet  of 
this  monster,  that  he  might  gain  the  privilege  of  waiting  upon  his  black  bar- 
barian brother  for  the  few  closing  hours  of  his  life.  It  wasn't  many  hours 
that  he  needed  to  be  waited  upon,  for  the  man  very  soon  died,  never  revealing 
the  place  of  his  treasure. 

We  have  in  that  authentic  incident  not  only  the  awful  merciless  sav- 
agery of  the  Mohammedan  religion,  but  the  spirit  of  brotherhood  and  the 
willingness  to  sacrifice  in  order  to  serve  that  was  the  command  to  the  fol- 
lowers of  Jesus  Christ,  of  every  land  and  every  age,  to  make  them  willing 
to  press  over  land  and  sea  and  desert  and  mountain,  even  to  the  remotest 
corners  of  the  world,  that  they  might  everywhere  proclaim  the  power  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  save  to  the  uttennost  all  that  would  come  unto  him  by  faith. 

Do  we  realize  that  two-thirds  of  the  world  is  in  the  grip  of  Mohammedan- 

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Bible  Conference  Addresses 

ism  and  Hindooism  and  Buddhism  and  paganism  to-day,  and  all  that  Christ 
can  do  to  release  these  thousands  of  millions  of  our  brother  men  from  this 
awful  grip  he  is  trying  to  do  through  you  and  me?  How  much  is  he  able  to 
do  through  you  ?  How  many  people  have  you  ever  prayed  out  into  these  fields  ? 
How  many  people  would  your  offerings  have  sent?  How  long  would  it  have 
supported  them'?  Have  yovi  ever  given  a  child,  or  been  willing  to  give  a  child, 
that  God  through  him  might  proclaim  his  truth  in  some  dark  part  of  the 
earth?  Are  you  willing  to  go  yourself  if  God  wants  you  to  go?  I  hope  that 
no  one  of  these  young  men  who  go  out  to-day  into  the  leadership  of  this  Church 
is  unwilling  to  go  anywhere  in  this  world  where  God  may  send  him.  I 
can't  imagine  that  any  men,  from  the  bishops  down  to  the  doorkeepers  in  our 
churches,  can  ever  be  of  the  use  that  God  wants  to  make  of  them  in  this  world, 
unless  they  are  so  surrendered  to  the  will  of  Jesus  Christ  that  they  are  willing 
to  go  to  Africa  or  anywhere  else  in  this  world  that  our  Lord  wants  to  send 
them;  and  when  we  all  have  that  kind  of  surrender  to  Jesus  Christ  we  are 
going  to  put  our  prayers  and  our  children  and  our  possessions  and  ourselves  on 
the  altar  of  God,  and  ask  him  to  use  us  up  to  the  very  last  limit  that  he  can 
use  us  in  hastening  that  day  when  all  tlie  world  shall  be  set  free.  Are  you 
willing  that  he  should  use  your  life?  Do  you  remember  how  Jesus  Christ 
identified  himself  with  his  chiirch  as  was  revealed  when  he  said  to  Paul, 
"Paul,  Paul,  why  persecutest  thou  me?"  It  was  the  church  Paul  persecuted, 
and  he  didn't  suppose  he  was  persecuting  the  Lord  God  at  all,  biit  he  was ;  and 
that  is  the  way  Christ  has  identified  himself  with  us.  How  have  we  identified 
ourselves  with  him?  Do  the  world's  needs  bear  on  our  hearts  to-day  as  they 
do  on  his?  That  is  the  kind  of  identification  he  must  have  with  us,  by  our 
own  voluntary  choice,  before  this  world  can  be  changed  into  the  garden  of  the 
Lord.  "As  my  Father  hath  sent  me  into  the  world,  even  so  send  I  you ;"  and 
as  we  approach  our  Lord  we  share  his  compassion  and  his  purposes  and  his 
sacrifice  to  save  the  world.  Do  you  know  how  rapidly  these  people  are  going 
beyond  our  rfeach  ?  "When  I  left  -India  three  years  ago  I  was  so  moved  with 
pity  and  sorrow  for  those  people,  and  never  wanted  them  to  go  out  of  my  mind 
for  a  day  or  an  hour,  that  I  figaired  up  the  death  rate  in  the  land,  to  which  I 
had  given  ten  years  of  my  life;  and  imder  the  second-hand  of  my  watch  I 
wrote  out  the  rate  at  which  they  are  passing  out  into  the  world  beyond  with- 
out Christ,  and  without  any  hope,  they  will  tell  you  themselves;  and  I  had  to 
put  an  ink-mark  alongside  of  every  third  second  on  my  watch,  and  that  was 
for  India  alone;  and  if  you  add  in  Africa,  and  China,  and  South  America,  and 
the  rest  of  the  non-Christian  world,  you  have  got  to  put  an  ink-mark  right 
alongside  of  every  second  to  represent  the  death  rate  that  goes  on  day  and 
night,  month  after  month,  until  we  reach  them  and  change  them.  Will  you 
realize  with  me  for  a  few  seconds  what  that  means,  and  think  what  it  would 
mean  if  they  were  your  brothers  and  sisters  and  friends  who  were  going  away 
in  that  way  without  Christ  [holding  watch  in  hand]  ?  Every  count  represents 
a  death  somewhere  in  the  non-Christian  world,  this  hour  and  every  hour.  One, 
two,  three,  four,  five,  six,  seven,  eight,  nine,  ten,  eleven,  twelve,  thirteen,  four- 
teen, fifteen,  sixteen,  seventeen,  eighteen,  nineteen,  twenty,  twenty-one,  twenty- 
two,  twenty-three,  twenty-four,  twenty-five,  twenty-six,  twenty-seven,  twenty- 
eight,  twenty-nine,  thirty — in  thirty  seconds,  and  my  watch  goes  on  and  the 

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death  rate  goes  on,  minute  after  minute,  hour  after  hour,  year  after  year.  At 
the  end  of  this  hour  that  we  worship  together,  thirty-six  hundred  people  have 
gone — twice  as  many  as  there  are  here  this  morning.  At  the  end  of  this  beauti- 
ful Sabbath  day  in  which  we  are  rejoicing  in  God,  eighty-six  thousand  people 
will  have  gone.  There  are  a  little  less  than  that  in  the  city  of  Dayton  to-day 
(census  of  1900) ;  every  day  of  the  year  a  Dayton  being  wiped  out  in  the  non- 
Christian  world.  Will  you  remember  that?  Will  you  pray  that  it  may  be 
changed?    Will  you  live  that  it  may  be  changed? 

"Give  me  thy  heart,  O  Christ,  thy  love  untold. 
That  I  like  thee  may  pity,  like  thee  may  preach; 
For  round  me  spreads  on  every  side  a  waste 
Drearer  than  that  which  moved  thy  soul  to  sadness ; 
No  ray  hath  pierced  this  immemorial  gloom,  ^ 

And  scarce  these  darkened,  toiling  myriads  taste 
Even  a  few  drops  of  fleeting  earthly  gladness 
As  they  move  on  slow,  silent,  to  the  tomb." 

What  does  it  mean  to  them?  What  does  it  mean  to  Christ?  What  does  it 
mean  to  you  ? 

I  know  that  averages  sometimes  are  misleading,  but  I  think  we  need  to  face 
fairly  what  our  churches  are  doing  to  meet  this  need,  and  as  I  have  studied 
your  Year-Book  and  consulted  with  your  officials  since  I  came  here,  they  tell 
me  that  for  every  dollar  that  is  spent  to  win  heathen  people,  trying  to  reach 
those  throngs  of  darkness,  thirty-five  dollars  .are  spent  in  America  to  help 
provide  the  gospel  to  you  people  who  already  have  had  it  and  to  reach  the 
other  three-fourths  of  humanity  in  this  country  who  need  that,  of  course,  as 
much  as  any  one  else;  but  to  reach  exactly  the  same  size  of  field,  measured 
there  and  measured  here,  thirty-five  dollars  were  spent  here  and  one  spent 
there ;  and  this  last  year  the  average  per  member  of  the  Church  seems  to  figure 
up  to  only  about  twenty  cents  for  the  whole  year,  and  that  would  be  two-fifths 
of  a  cent  a  week  to  save  the  world.  If  everybody  gave  something  every  week, 
the  smallest  amount  that  could  be  given  would  be  a  penny  a  week,  and  that 
would  be  $135,000  in  a  year  as  against  $50,000  that  was  given  last  year — a 
street-car  fare  once  every  three  months.  Is  that  the  best  we  can  do — people 
living  as  comfortably  as  we  are,  with  as  good  clothes  as  we  have  on,  and  as 
comfortable  homes  as  we  came  from?  I  have  no  doubt  that  many  of  you  are 
giving  far  more  than  that,  but  for  every  one  who  is  giving  more,  there  must 
be  somebody  who  is  giving  less,  for  the  average  is  only  twenty  cents.  Have  we 
not  got  something  to  do  to  lift  up  the  interest  and  conscience  and  prayer-life 
of  a  great  body  of  people  like  you  represent  to-day  to  that  place  where  they 
will  enter  intelligently  and  joyfully  with  Christ  into  the  work  of  saving  the 
world?  And  while  jo\i  have  two  thousand  ministers  here  and  250,000  Chris- 
tians to  reach  this  million  in  this  land.  I  understand  that  you  have  only  got 
fifty  people  to  reach  one  million  over  yonder — just  as  large  a  field,  and  in 
these  terrible  conditions  that  T  have  been  tallying  about  this  morning.  In 
other  words,  only  one  out  of  five  tho\isand  three  hundred  of  you  is  willing 
to  go  out  into  one  of  these  other  dark  places.    Is  it  really  possible  that  Christ 

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wants  five  thousand  three  hundred  of  us  to  plant  our  lives  here,  where  the  field 
is  already  so  fairly  well  occupied,  and  only  just  take  one  seed  out  of  that  large 
a  number  and  put  it  out  in  some  part  of  the  world  where  no  seed  is  growing 
at  all  ?  I  do  not  believe  that  our  Lord  wants  as  little  done  as  that,  and  you  raust 
for  yourselves  find  out  how  much  he  wants  done ;  but  I  beg  of  you,  oh,  may  you 
ask  him  not,  "How  much  must  I  do,  Lord?"  but,  "How  much  can  I  do,  Lord?" 
Last  night  over  here  in  your  Mission  Board  room,  the  Secretary  took  out  from 
the  iron  safe  a  couple  of  beautiful  gold  watches,  and  said  that  they  came  from 
a  young  man  and  his  new  wife  over  yonder  in  Pennsylvania  who  had  come  to 
the  pastor  of  the  church  and  said,  "We  have  not  the  money  that  we  would  like 
to  have  to  put  into  this  work  of  saving  men,  but  we  bring  these  watches." 
They  were  worth  one  hundred  and  two  dollars ;  and  it  wasn't  because  they  had 
two  watches  apiece,  either,  for  they  said  if  it  pleased  the  Secretary  he  might 
give  five  dollars  perhaps  to  get  a  cheap  watch  which  would  take  the  place  of 
these.  But  out  of  their  love  there  came  these  gifts  for  the  redemption  of 
men.  It  wasn't  as  much  as  our  Lord  gave  vis,  or  you  and  I  never  would  have 
known  the  way  of  life.  But  if  you  and  I  will  -live  in  that  spirit,"  it  will  not  be 
long  until  your  Church  is  giving  far  more  than  two-fifths  of  a  cent  a  week  to 
set  free  the  heathen  people  that  at  least  the  people  in  your  Church  ought  to 
set  free;  and  as  I  have  said  to  many  other  churches,  I  think  they  ought  to 
move  out  and  take  a  larger  field  than  this.  Our  little  church  of  125,000,  only 
half  the  size  of  yours,  is  trying  to  reach  fifteen  millions,  and  there  are  great 
fields  all  around  us  that  nobody  is  trying  to  reach,  and  I  honestly  believe  that 
if  you  set  your  pace  and  your  faith  to  reach  that  million,  God  would  widen 
your  field  and  possibly  lead  you  to  reach  four  or  five  millions  instead  of  one 
million.  Over  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa  somebody  carried  the  gospel  to  a 
young  savage  girl  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  she  came  into  the  house  of  God  on 
Christmas  Day  to  bring  her  offering,  for  they  have  a  very  beautiful  custom  of 
not  giving  their  best  to  each  other  on  Christmas  Day,  but  giving  the  best  gifts 
to  the  Savior;  and  they  come  into  the  house  of  God,  and  after  a  service  of 
praise  and  prayer  they  all  come  in  procession  around  the  front  of  the  church, 
and  each  hands  the  missionary  the  gift  he  wants  to  give  to  Christ.  They 
are  poor  with  a  poverty  that  you  and  I  know  nothing  about.  If  they  were 
able  to  bring  even  a  small  amount  there,  a  penny,  it  was  counted  a  very  rich 
gift  indeed.  Most  of  them  , couldn't  bring  that  at  all;  they  just  brought  a 
handful  of  vegetables  from  their  garden,  two  or  three  potatoes,  or  a  couple  of 
turnips,  or  a  couple  of  onions.  Some  of  them  were  too  poor  to  bring  that,  and 
brought  just  a  bunch  of  flowers.  But  this  girl  in  the  procession,  just  saved 
out  of  heathenism,  out  of  the  folds  of  her  old  dress  brought  a  silver  coin 
worth  eighty-five  cents  and  handed  that  to  the  missionary  as  her  gift  to  Christ. 
He  was  so  utterly  astonished  at  the  magnitude  of  it  that  he  thought  surely  the 
girl  must  have  stolen  it,  and  for  a  moment  he  was  about  to  refuse  to  accept  it, 
but  thought  he  had  better  take  it  to  save  confusion.  At  the  conclusion  of  the 
service  he  called  her  aside  and  asked  her  where  she  got  that  money,  for  it  was 
really  a  fortune  for  a  girl  in  her  condition,  and  she  explained  to  him  very 
simply,  that  in  her  great  desire  to  give  to  Christ  an  offering  in  some  sense 
worthy  of  his  love  and  sacrifice,  she  had  gone  to  a  neighborhood  planter  and 
bound  herself  out  to  him  as  a  slave  for  the  rest  of  her  life  for  this  eighty-five 

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cents,  and  had  brought  the  whole  financial  equivalent  of  her  life  of  pledged 
service  and  laid  it  down  in  a  single  gift  at  the  feet  of  her  Lord. 

My  brethren,  I  am  glad  to  have  a  gospel  to  believe  in  that  is  capable  of 
doing  that  for  a  savage;  and  while  I  do  not  recommend  to  you  that  you  bind 
yourselves  in  slavery  to  any  man  even  for  Christ's  sake,  I  ask  you  here  to-day 
whether  there  is  anything  so  dignified,  so  glorious,  so  divine,  and  in  the  end  so 
satisfying,  that  we  can  do  with  this  one  life  that  we  have  to  invest,  as  to  bind 
it  in  perpetual  voluntary  slavery  to  Jesus  Christ  for  lost  mankind's  sake,  and 
to  say  to  him,  with  fullness  of  heart  and  purpose,  "If  God  will  show  me  any- 
thing that  I  can  do  for  the  redemption  of  this  world  that  I  have  not  yet  done, 
by  his  grace  I  will  undertake  it  at  once,  for  I  cannot,  I  dare  not,  go  up  to 
judgment  until  I  have  done  the  utmost  God  enables  me  to  do  to  diffuse  his 
glory  throughout  the  whole  wide  world."  I  say  to  you  frankly  that  I  expect  to 
be  satisfied  with  that  kind  of  a  life  purpose  one  hundred  years  from  to-day. 
Are  you  perfectly  sure  that  you  will  be  satisfied  then  with  yours  ? 


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feuntiaj?  Afternoon, 


At  3 :00  p.Ji.  Sunday,  May  6,  the  men's  service  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  was  held 
in  Victoria  Theatre,  led  by  Prof.  E.  L.  Shuey,  President  of  the  Association. 
The  service  opened  with  song,  "All  hail  the  power  of  Jesns'  name."  This  was 
followed  by  a  song  by  the  chorus,  assisted  by  the  Arion  Quartet. 

J.  Campbell  White:  Our  Scripture  lesson,  first  of  all,  is  from  the  sixth 
chapter  of  Ephesians,  beginning  with  the  tenth  verse  and  including  the  seven- 
teenth. Also,  Romans,  sixth  chapter,  twelfth  to  fourteenth  verses  inclusive, 
and  seventh  chapter  of  Hebrews,  twenty-fifth  verse.  Before  proceeding  fur- 
ther we  shall  be  led  in  prayer  by  Bishop  Mathews. 

Bishop  Mathews'  Prayer. 

O  God,  we  come  into  thy  presence  and  look  up  into  thy  face  at  this  time  in 
the  exercise  of  faith.  We  believe  in  thy  existence,  for  thou  hast  said  he  that 
would  come  unto  thee  must  believe  that  thou  art,  and  that  thou  art  a  rewarder 
of  those  who  diligently  seek  thee.  We  believe  also  in  thy  immanence.  Thou 
art  not  far  away  from  us,  but  thou  art  in  our  very  midst,  even  in  our  hearts. 
We  would  not  be  under  the  dominion  of  a  pagan  conception,  which  puts  thee 
so  far  away  frorn  us,  but  under  the  power  of  the  Christian  conception,  thai 
brings  thee  up  right  close  to  our  heart,  even  into  our  soul.  Thou  art  every- 
where present,  in  the  very  flowers  of  the  field,  in  the  forces  all  about  us  thou 
art  manifesting  thyself.  And  then  we  believe  in  thy  relationships;  thou  art 
Lord  of  the  universe,  thou  art  Lord  of  nature.  Thou  hast  control  of  all  the 
forces  about  us.  Thou  art  everywhere,  ruling  in  the  interests  of  righteousness 
and  truth  and  harmony. 

O  God,  we  pray  that  thou  wilt  come  into  our  hearts  and  rule  completely 
over  our  entire  beings.  May  thy  divine  grace  have  perfect  dominion  over  us, 
so  that  sin  shall  be  dethroned,  and  self  shall  be  dethroned,  and  Christ  shall  be 
enthroned  and  his  grace  shall  have  complete  dominion  over  all  our  powers 
and  over  our  entire  being.  And  then,  dear  Savior,  wilt  thou  not  only  come 
into  our  hearts  and  light  up  every  precinct  of  our  being,  and  control  us  as  we 
give  ourselves  in  loving  and  complete  surrender  to  thee,  but  wilt  thou  make  us 
heroic,  joyous,  aggi-essive  soldiers  of  thine  to  go  forward  into  the  thickest  of 
the  battle,  loyal  to  Jesus  Christ,  faithful  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  Christ, 
and  glad  of  the  opportunity  of  proclaiming  the  truth  of  Jesus  everywhere  and 
exemplifying  the  truth  revealed  to  us  in  the  Word  of  God  in  our  lives.  Oh, 
let  thy  blessing  rest  upon  this  meeting  this  afternoon.    We  thank  thee  for  the 

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meeting  of  this  morning ;  for  the  definitely  inspired  message  which  thy  servant 
bore  to  us  this  morning  in  this  place;  and  we  thank  thee  for  the  announce- 
ment of  the  triumph  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  over  the  hearts  of  our  lay- 
men in  the  princely  gift  that  was  spoken  of  this  morning,  that  shall  help  to 
increase  the  efficiency  and  power  of  a  Christian  center.  O  God,  may  thy  power 
and  thy  grace  and  thy  love  come  down  upon  us,  and  imder  all  of  us  who  are 
men  in  thy  kingdom,  that  we  shall  give  ourselves  fully  to  that  power  and  to 
thy  grace,  so  that  we  may  give  our  time  and  our  talent  and  our  means  and 
all  for  the  hastening  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  earth. 

Bless  thy  servant  who  shall  speak  to  us  this  afteraoon.  Thou  hast  given  him 
a  message.  Oh,  help  us  to  open  our  hearts  to  the  fullest  reception  of  thy 
truth  as  he  shall  speak  it  to  us,  and  those  of  us  who  listen,  may  we  listen  with 
prayer,  efficient,  expectant  prayer,  that  the  truth,  the  divine  truth  which  he 
shall  speak  to  us  this  afternoon,  may  hot  only  build  us  up  and  make  us  strong 
and  valiant  soldiers  for  Christ,  to  go  forward  in  the  great  forward  movements 
of  the  age  for  the  glorification  of  Jesus  Christ,  biit  also  at  this  particular 
time  those  that  are  not  in  the  kingdom,  and  those  hearts  which  have  not  en- 
throned thee,  may  these  men  that  have  thought  it  worth  while  to  come  to  this 
service  open  their  moral  natures  and  receive  Christ,  the  Savior,  the  elder 
brother,  the  friend,  the  king,  that  he  may  rule  their  lives,  and  that  great  glory 
may  be  gotten  to  the  name  of  Jesus  in  this  service,  in  the  salvation,  in  the 
quickening,  in  the  uplifting  of  this  large  number  of  men  that  are  here  this 
afternoon. 

Bless  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  of  this  city.  God  bless  the  president  and  all  the  offi- 
cers associated  with  him,  all  the  men  that  are  upon  the  committee.  The  mem- 
ories of  other  years  come  to  us  at  this  time,  when  we  recall  the  magnificent 
moral  and  spiritual  achievements  that  have  been  brought  about  through  this 
great  Christian  agency.  Lord  God,  continue  its  power  and  increase  its  influ- 
ence, and  may  thy  name  be  wonderfully  glorified  in  this  beautiful  city  that  we 
have  learned  to  love.    We  ask  it  in  Jesus'  name.    Amen. 

Address  of  J.  Campbell  White. 

I  never  think  of  this  city  of  yours,  though  I  have  thought  of  it  often  from 
a  distance  of  ten  thousand  miles  away,  without  thinking  of  the  man  whom  I 
first  met  from  Dayton,  and  who  made  a  powerful  impression  upon  me  then, 
and  whose  life  lives  as  an  inspiration  to  me  still.  I  expect  to  think  of  Mr. 
Sinclair  as  long  as  I  live,  as  one  of  the  men  who  lived  a  life  worth  living  and 
worth  imitating. 

.  The  thirstiest  men  I  ever  saw  were  eight  native  Africans  in  a  little  sail- 
boat out  in  the  middle  of  the  Red  Sea.  I  used  to  suppose  that  the  Red 
Sea  was  a  very  small  affair,  about  big  enough  to  swim  across  or  row  across  in  a 
boat.  I  have  gone  over  it  now  a  half  dozen  times,  and  even  in  one  of  the 
great  ocean  steamers  it  takes  three  days  and  three  nights  to  get  from  one  end 
of  it  to  the  other.  It  is  more  than  a  thousand  miles  long,  farther  than  from 
New  York  to  Chicago.  I  got  a  new  idea  of  its  vastness,  and  it  is  so  wide  that 
a  great  deal  of  the  time  one  cannot  see  the  shore  on  either  side. 

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When,  out  in  the  middle  of  that  sea  one  day,  about  noon,  we  came  across 
a  boat-load  of  native  Africans,  eight  of  them  in  a  little  sailboat.  They  ran 
up  a  signal  of  distress  as  we  came  into  sight,  and  our  captain,  understanding 
the  signal,  ran  up  alongside  of  them  and  stopped  to  see  what  was  the  matter. 
Although  they  couldn't  understand  a  word  of  our  language,  and  we  not  a 
word  of  theirs,  they  very  soon  made  known  to  us  by  signs  that  they  were 
hungry  and  thirsty.  They  had  come  out  under  favorable  breezes  from  the 
African  shore,  hoping  to  go  back  again  at  their  pleasure,  but  the  wind  had 
fallen  and  they  couldn't  row  back  again.  They  had  brought  veiy  little  food 
and  water,  and,  these  soon  exhausted,  they  were  left  in  a  perishing  condition. 
Of  course  you  would  not  expect  a  boat-load  of  Christian  men  to  sail  away  and 
leave  them  in  that  condition.  The  captain  supplied  them  with  a  barrel  of 
water  and  a  bag  of  rice,  and  they  partook  of  it  without  very  much  ceremony, 
and  seemed  very  well  contented  to  wait  until  the  breeze  would  spring  up  and 
carry  them  back  home. 

As  we  sailed  away  from  them  that  day  I  couldn't  help  but  think  that  those 
men,  in  their  physical  distress,  illustrate  the  spiritual  condition  of  men  such 
as  I  have  been  dealing  with  out  in  India  for  ten  years,  and  such  as  live  all 
over  the  non-Christian  world.  Here  were  men  with  water  in  every  direction, 
farther  than  the  eye  could  reach,  yet  thirsting  to  death  for  a  single  drinlv ;  and 
any  of  you  who  have  been  at  sea  probably  know  what  the  effect  is  upon  a  very 
thirsty  man  of  trying  to  satisfy  his  thirst  with  sea-water.  Men  caught  out  at 
sea  and  carried  off  from  ships  have  sometimes  thought  they  could  satisfy  their 
thirst  with  this;  but  it  thrusts  them  into  such  an  agony  of  suffering  that  many 
of  them  lose  their  reason  and  leap  overboard,  committing  suicide. 

There  are  religions  of  some  sort  all  over  the  world.  No  tribe  has  been 
found  anywhere  that  does  not  have  some  religious  beliefs,  but  all  non-Chris- 
tian religions  are  like  salt-water  to  a  man  who  is  thirsting  to  death.  Instead 
of  in  any  measure  satisfying  his  thirst,  they  merely  aggravate  it.  I  have  been 
living  for  ten  years  among  men  who  have  been  trying  in  all  sorts  of  foolish 
ways  to  gratify,  to  satisfy  their  heart's  hunger  for  God.  They  have  not  been 
able  to  do  it.  Go  to  the  old  men  who  have  spent  a  lifetime  walls;ing  up  and 
down  in  India  trying  to  find  out  some  spiritual  message  that  would  bring  them 
peace,  and  ask  them  whether  they  have  found  it,  and  they  will  all  shake  their 
heads,  and  indicate  "No,  no,  I  have  not  found  it  yet."  They  hope  to  some- 
time later  on,  perhaps.  The  great  trouble  with  all  religions,  apart  from  Chris- 
tianity, is  that  not  one  of  them  has  a  decent  conception  of  the  character  of 
God.  You  can't  build  a  religion  without  that.  The  Bible  reveals  God  to  us 
in  his  perfection.  The  first  reason  which  it  brings  to  us  for  a  new  life  is  that 
it  brings  to  us  the  conception  of  what  a  holy  life  is;  and  nobody  has  that  who 
does  not  have  the  Bible.  Sometime  ago  an  African  chief  was  presented  with 
a  looking-glass.  It  was  the  first  time  he  had  ever  seen  a  mirror,  and  the  first 
time  he  ever  saw  himself.  He  was  a  hideous  fellow,  and  when  he  ?aw  his  own 
face  for  the.  first  time  he  was  so  impressed  with  his  own  ugliness  that  he 
smashed  that  looking-glass  to  pieces.  He  never  wanted  to  see  himself  again. 
But  the  breaking  of  the  glass  didn't  change  his  ugliness.  The  Bible  is  a  mir- 
ror of  character.  By  looking  into  it  we  can  see  ourselves  as  we  are;  and  it  is 
not  a  very  pleasant  sight.    But  the  only  way  to  be  changed  is  to  keep  looking 

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until  God's  character  is  so  impressed  upon  us  that  we  are  changed  into  its 
likeness;  and  the  reason  the  Bible  reveals  us  to  ourselves  is  because  it  reveals 
God  to  us,  and  he  is  so  different  from  us  that  we  see  the  contrast.  It  is  a  holy 
God  who  is  here  revealed,  than  whom  we  cannot  conceive  any  one  more  per- 
fect. 

Somebody  was  making  fun  of  a  man  who  had  recently  been  converted.  He 
said,  "What  kind  of  a  God  do  you  worship,  anyhow,  a  big  God  or  a  little  God  ? 
I  would  like  to  have  you  tell  me  about  him."  The  poor,  ignorant  fellow  didn't 
know  very  much,  but  God  taught  him  something,  and  he  said  to  the  man,  "My 
God  is  so  big  that  the  heaven  of  heavens  cannot  contain  him,  and  he  is  so 
little  that  he  dwells  in  my  heart."  That  is  the  kind  of  a  God  for  all  men  to 
have — that  is  the  kind  of  a  God  without  whom  no  man  of  us  can  live  a  life 
worth  while;  a  God  so  pure  that  no  one  of  us  can  see  him  without  being  self- 
condemned;  a  God  so  tender  that  far  more  loving  than  any  mother's  touch  is 
his.  The  Bible  says :  "Can  a  woman  forget  her  sucking  child,  that  she  should 
not  have  compassion  on  the  son  of  her  womb?  Yea,  they  may  forget,  yet  will 
I  not  forget  thee."  God  is  more  tender  than  any  of  ovir  mothers.  He  laid 
down  life  itself  for  you  and  me,  and  that  means  infinite  love;  a  God  so  power- 
ful that  just  the  moving  of  a  little  bit  of  the  earth,  which  is  only  just  one 
fraction  of  this  physical  universe,  upsets  a  whole  city,  and  hundred  of  millions 
of  dollars  are  destroyed.  I  am  glad  my  God  is  powerful  enough  to  hold  me 
if  I  trust  him.  It  is  a  very  strange  thing  that  any  man  will  try  to  exclude  a 
God  like  that  from  his  heart;  a  God  without  whom  we  could  not  live  for  a 
moment ;  for  he  is  the  one  in  whom  our  breath  is,  and  whose  are  all  our  ways. 
A  God  from  whom  to  be  separated  forever  is  the  greatest  conceivable  misery; 
whether  that  is  in  the  next  life  or  this,  it  is  hell  to  be  separated  from  God. 
Hell  is  anjTvhere  where  a  man  is  shiitting  God  out  of  his  life.  The  heathen 
doesn't  know  how  to  find  God,  but  you  and  I  do.  Isn't  it  a  strange  thing  that 
any  one  of  us  should  fail  to  find  him?  Another  thing  that  no  heathen  has  is 
any  decent  idea  of  a  right  standard  of  morality.  They  have  books  on  religion. 
Yes,  but  there  is  no  more  moral  teaching  in  most  of  them  than  there  is  in  an 
average  dime  novel  in  America ;  and  many  of  these  boolvs  are  much  more  in- 
decent than  much  of  the  cheapest,  vilest  literature  that  is  published  from  our 
press  here.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  it  that  dare  not  be  translated  into  the 
English  language  at  all.  A  man  was  arrested  a  few  weeks  ago  in  Bombay, 
India,  for  attempting  to  translate  some  extracts  from  some  of  the  religious 
books  in  India.  It  was  not  very  long  ago  that  a  mother  in  northwest  India 
came  to  one  of  the  missionaries,  and  apologized  for  having  saved  the  little 
girl  baby  she  held  in  her  arms.  She  said,  "My  priest  says  I  should  kill  it. 
I  have  already  killed  five.  I  suppose  I  should  have  killed  this  one, 
but  some  way  I  couldn't  find  it  in  my  heart  to  do  it."  Imagine  a 
mother  apologizing  for  not  having  murdered  the  sixth  one  of  her  own 
family.  That  is  the  kind  of  confusion  of  moral  standard  there  is  all  over 
the  heathen  world.  If  a  Hindoo  were  to  accept  a  glass  of  water  or  a  piece  of 
bread  from  you,  that  would  be  the  unpardonable  sin  of  Hindooism.  He  would 
be  thrown  out  of  his  caste  at  once,  and  not  be  permitted  to  remain  a  member 
of  his  circle.  He  might  break  every  command  of  the  Bible  from  one  end  to  the 
other  without  any  question  ever  being  raised  as  to  his  orthodoxy  as  a  Hindoo. 

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And  even  the  moral  standards  they  have,  the  sense  of  right  that  still  clings  to 
their  hearts  in  spite  of  all  their  falsities,  and  lies,  and  superstition,  they  are 
not  even  able  to  live  up  to ;  for  they  don't  know  of  the  armor  of  God  that  we 
were  reading  about  over  in  Ephesians.  Men  are  wrestling  as  Paul  clearly 
recognized;  and  all  of  us,  if  we  are  sensible,  will  recognize,  our  fight  is  not 
against  flesh  and  blood.  It  is  not  on  even  temis,  this  fight  with  sin.  We  are  fight- 
ing with  supernatural  powers,  that  are  stronger  than  any  man;  and  the  only 
hope  for  victory  by  any  one  is  that  he  shall  discover  other  supernatural  forces 
whicli  are  stronger  still.  If  you  don't  know  God  I  know  something  about  you, 
and  that  is  that  you  have  never  fouud  out  how  to  fight  successfully  your  temp- 
tations. I  don't  care  who  you  are,  I  don't  care  how  strong  a  will  you  have  got, 
I  know  this :  that  either  you  know  Christ  or  you  know  slavery.  I  have  fought 
with  sin  as  desperately  as  most  men,  and  I  thought  for  a  long  time  that  a  man 
could  overcome  it ;  but  I  have  changed  my  mind  now.  There  is  a  passage  over 
in  James,  the  fourth  chapter,  seventh  verse,  that  says,  "Resist  the  devil  and  he 
will  flee  from  you."  How  often  we  hear  that  quoted.  I  used  to  think  that 
was  possible.  It  is  not;  it  is  not  so.  But  you  say  it  is  in  the  Bible.  I  know 
it  is  in  the  Bible,  but  it  is  not  so.  "Resist  the  devil  and  he  will  flee  from 
j'ou,"  taken  alone,  out  of  its  context,  is  a  false  theoiy  of  life.  You  want  to 
get  it  in  its  comiection.  Supposing  you  had  hydrophobia  and  were  going  to 
die,  and  some  great  specialist  who  knew  how  to  deal  with  your  trouble  came 
along  and  said,  "Here  is  a  prescription  which  has  been-  discovered  that  will 
save  you,  although  you  are  almost  gone.  It  consists  of  three  ingredients;  you 
get  them  at  the  chemist's  next  door,  and  tal^e  a  dose  of  it  as  soon  as  possible." 
I  go  into  the  chemist's,  for  my  friend,  and  he  says,  "I  have  got  lots  of  the 
second  ingredient  there,  but  I  haven't  got  any  of  the  first  or  any  of  the  third ; 
shall  I  just  give  you  three  times  as  much  of  the  second  as  is  asked  for  of 
that?"  Wliat  would  the  effect  probably  be  on  the  man?  It  is  just  as  likely  to 
kill  him  as  to  help  him.  This  is  a  divine  prescription  in  which  that  sentence 
occurs;  but  it  is  only  one-third  of  it.  Listen  to  the  other  two-thirds:  "Sub- 
mit yourselves  therefore  to  God.  Resist  the  devil,  and  he  will  flee  from  you. 
Draw  nigh  to  God,  and  he  will  draw  nigh  to  you."  And  the  three  parts  are, 
first,  submit  to  God;  then  resist  for  all  I  am  worth;  and  then  reliance  upon 
the  omnipotence  of  Jehovah.  That  will  work;  but  resistance  alone  will  not, 
and  I  know  it  by  many  a  failure  in  my  own  life.  If  you  thinly  you  are  strong 
enough  to  fight  the  devil  successfully,  you  are  deceived.  You  can't  do  it.  He 
will  bring  you  into  ruin  eternal  if  he  can  get  you  to  believe  that  you  are  strong 
enough  to  resist  him.  You  say,  "I  am  not  serving  the  devil ;  I  am  just  doing 
as  I  please."  That  is  all  he  wants — just  let  yourself  go;  that  is  all  the  devil 
wants — anything  to  keep  you  away  from  a  pure,  holy,  godly  life.  That  is  the 
service  of  the  devil,  letting  yourself  go  and  serving  yourself.  Oh,  he  is  very 
subtle,  and  he  has  got  men  of  all  ages  in  all  nations  serving  hiin;  but  you 
will  wake  up  sometime  to  an  awful  revelation  and  an  awful  regret,  if  you  do 
not  find  out  the  secret  of  victory  through  Jesus  Christ  alone. 

I  heard  out  in  the  western  part  of  Kansas  a  friend  of  mine  from  Egyi^t 
telling  a  story  about  a  hospital  after  a  fight.  The  main  doctor  was  going  from 
one  cot  to  another  examining  what  was  the  matter  with  the  men,  some  of 
them  with  arms  shot  off,  some  with  legs,  some  with  bullets  in  their  bodies,  and 

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otherwise.  He  came  to  a  man  with  a  terrible  foot,  and  he  saw  that  the  only- 
way  of  saving  the  man's  life  was  to  have  that  man's  leg  cut  off.  There  was  a 
slate  at  the  top  of  each  cot.  He  wrote  on  that  the  simple  word,  "Amputate." 
His  assistants  were  coming  along  behind  and  carrying  out  his  instructions. 
After  the  doctor  passed  on  to  the  next  cot  this  man  was  so  anxious  to  see  what 
the  instructions  were  that  he  turned  around  and  looked  up  and  saw  that  word 
"Amputate."  He  knew  what  it  meant.  He  couldn't  think  of  the  possibility 
of  losing  his  leg,  and  so  he  just  reached  up  and  wiped  it  out.  The  doctors 
came  along  in  a  few  minutes  and  saw  him  there,  looked  at  the  slate,  saw  that 
there  was  nothing  to  do,  and  walked  on.  The  poison  went  through  his  system, 
and  in  a  few  hours  he  was  dead.  He  saved  his  leg,  but  he  lost  his  life.  You 
can  save  your  sin  if  you  like,  but  it  will  eat  your  soul  out. 

Wlien  I  was  coming  home  from  India,  all  around  over  the  boat  there  were 
signs  up  to  have  all  yovir  valuables  locked  up  in  the  safe;  that  the  ship's  com- 
pany would  not  hold  itself  responsible  for  anything  lost  or  stolen  unless  you 
did  that.  Some  of  my  friends  here  who  have  been  on  the  sea  know  all  about 
it.  Well,  I  thought  I  had  very  little  that  was  of  any  value,  and  so  I  just  kept 
my  money  in  my  pocket.  I  didn't  have  any  jewelry,  but  I  had  some  money. 
When  we  go  traveling  around  the  world  we  generally  get  it  in  gold — English 
gold  is  good  anywhere.  I  had  a  lot  of  these  sovereigns  in  my  pocket.  One 
morning  I  waked  up  to  find  I  was  five  sovereigns  short — twenty-five  dollars 
short.  Then  I  went  and  had  the  rest  locked  up.  Most  of  the  ^vomen  were 
wiser,  and  they  took  their  vakiables  and  had  them  locked  up  at  the  start,  re- 
ceiving from  the  purser  a  receipt  showing  how  many  things  were  in  his  safe 
custody.  The  last  day  before  they  get  off  the  boat  at  the  end  of  the  trip,  they 
go  and  present  the  receipt  and  get  all  those  things  back.  There  was  a  concert 
on  board  the  boat  one  night  and  some  of  the  ladies  wanted  some  of  their  fine 
earrings  and  other  jewelry  to  wear,  and  they  went  and  got  them  out  for  the 
evening.  At  the  end  of  the  concert,  without  being  willing  to  keep  them  over 
night,  they  would  go  and  have  them  locked  up  again.  Pretty  ^oon  after  the 
concert  was  over  and  the  women  had-  taken  their  jewelry  off  and  turned  it 
over  to  the  purser,  the  purser  came  hurriedly  to  one  of  the  cabins  where  one 
of  the  ladies  was  that  turned  over  a  lot  of  her  valuables,  and  held  up  her  ring, 
a  gold  band  ring,  in  which  there  had  been  a  Tery  valuable  diamond.  He 
showed  her  that  the  diamond  wasn't  there,  and  said,  of  course,  he  wanted  her 
to  see  this  at  once,  as  he  wouldn't  be  held  responsible  for  giving  her  a  diamond 
at  the  end  of  the  trip  that  wasn't  turned  over  to  him.  They  instantly  con- 
cluded that  it  must  have  been  lost  up  on  deck  while  tliey  were  having  the  con- 
cert. They  went  up  and  hunted  all  around,  and  under  the  glare  of  an  electric 
light  they  found  it  for  her — a  verj'  valuable  stone  that  liad  dropped  out.  She 
turned  that  over  with  the  gold  band  to  the  purser  and  he  went  away  com- 
fortable and  locked  it  up.  At  the  end  of  the  trip  she  got  it  all.  The  ship's 
company  held  itself  responsible  for  everything  that  was  turned  over  to  it. 
But  it  would  be  a  very  strange  ship  company  that  would  want  to  be  held  re- 
sponsible for  things  people  don't  turn  over  to  them.  God  holds  himself  respon- 
sible for  what  you  and  I  tvirn  over  to  him,  but  for  nothing  more.  Paul  said, 
"I  know  him  whom  I  have  believed,  and  am  persuaded  that  he  is  able  to  keep 
that  which  I  have  committed  unto  him."    But  God  can't  keep  what  you  don't 

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commit.     God  is  almighty,  but  he  can't  keep  your  life  unless  you  give  it  to 
him.    Have  you  given  it  to  him,  or  are  you  trying  to  keep  it  yourself? 

I  know  a  man  very  intimately  who  tried  to  fight  sin  for  a  long  time  with 
all  the  strength  of  will  that  a  man  can  put  into  a  fight.     He  finally,  after  re- 
peated failures,  got  to  the  point  where  in  desperation  one  day  he  took  his 
knife  out  of  his  pocket.    He  thought  he  would  make  it  sure  now.    He  opened 
the  knife,  and  pushing  his  sleeve  up,  ran  his  knife  into  his  flesh.     When  it 
began  to  bleed  he  took  a  pen  and  dipped  it  into  his  own  blood,  and  wrote  out 
on  a  sheet  of  paper,  "I  will  never  again  yield  to  this  temptation,"  and  signed 
his  name.    That  was  determination,  wasn't  it?    That  was  desperation.    Did  it 
work  ?    Of  course  not.    He  had  not  learned  the  secret  yet.    He  went  on  failing 
until  he  learned  this  other  secret  that  T  have  been  telling  you  men  about — that 
all  victory  begins  in  suiTender  to  God  as  the  only  safe  keeper  of  life.     I  wish 
I  could  get  you  men  to  believe  that  with  all  your  heart,  and  the  way  I  see 
some  of  you  looking  away  from  me  I  know  you  don't  believe  it.    I  understand 
it  perfectly  well  when  you  get  nervous  and  look  away.     Some  of  you  went  out 
a  few  moments  ago.     It  is  easy  enough  to  get  away  frommy  voice.     Men,  it 
is  easy  enough  to  get  away  from  God  if  you  are  determined  to.     It  is  easy 
enough  for  you  to  ruin  your  life  if  you  choose,  if  that  is  what  you  want  to  do 
with  your  life.     You  have  got  the  choice  to  make.     Go  ahead.     Biit,  oh,  may 
God  save  you  from  that  kind  of  following.    My  friend  Eddy  was  tallving  to  a 
crowd  of  students  over  in  India  a  few  years  ago;  I  guess  you  know  of  Mr. 
Eddy  here  in  Dayton,  he  having  once  been  here.    A  great  man,  and  a  man  of 
God.     He  brought  a  thousand  men  to  Christ  in  a  single  year  over  there  in 
India.    He  was  once  taU-cing  to  a  crowd  of  men,  students,  Hindoos,  a  crowd  of 
men  who  had  come  into  that  audience  not  to  get  good,  but  to  do  harm.     One 
of  them,  the  ringleader,  because  he  couldn't  do  all  the  harm  he  wanted  to  do 
himself,  organized  a  society  to  help  him  do  harm;  and  they  called  it  the  devil's 
society.    They  made  him  the  secretary  of  it,  this  ringleader.    The  whole  crowd 
came  into  this  service  aiming  to  see  how  much  harm  they  could  do.     They 
were  going  to  watch  the  men  who  were  favorably  impressed  with  the  truth, 
and  they  would  fix  them.    They  would  take  one  out  and  tie  him  to  a  tree  and 
beat  him  with  bamboo  sticks  until  he  was  nearly  dead.     They  would  take 
another  and  give  him  some  terrible  drug,  and  lock  him  up  in  a  room  with  a 
great  lot  of  naked  women  to  see  what  the  efl:"ect  would  be  on  him.    That  is  the 
kind  of  a  method  they  used  in  trying  to  dissuade  men  from  the  better  life. 
But  as  my  friend  spoke  the  truth  went  to  the  heart  of  this  secretary  of  the 
devil's  society  himself.    He  saw  himself  for  the  first  time.    A  whole  lot  of  you 
men  have  never  seen  yourselves  as  God  looks  at  you.    He  saw  himself,  and  he 
saw  what  an  ugly,  wicked,  hideous  creature,  full  of  sin,  he  was.    lie  saw  that 
somebody  was  being  held  up  who  might  help  him,  and  he  was  attracted  to 
Christ,  and  he  shook  like  a  leaf  as  the  Spirit  of  God  carried  this  truth  to  his 
heart.     My  friend  noticed  his   agitation,  and   at  the  close  of  the  service  he 
sought  him  out,  and  they  went  out  for  a  walk  and  talked  together.    My  friend 
said  to  him:     "This  is  the  Savior  you  need;  you  can't  get  along  without  him. 
You  are  not  too  bad  for  him  to  save.     He  came  to  save  the  worst  oi  men.     He 
will  save  everybody  who  will  let  him.     He  will  come  into  your  life  and  wipe 
out  all  the  black    past;  he  will  come  into  you  with  his  own    divine    energy, 

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and  enable  you  to  live  a  victorious  life;  he  will  make  a  messenger  of  his  out 
of  you,  and  help  you  to  go  out  and  tell  other  men  how  to  get  free  from  the 
bondage  of  slavery  and  sin."  My  friend  didn't  conceal  from  him  the  fact 
that  it  would  cost  him  something  to  do  this.  He  said:  "When  you  go  back 
to  your  old  Hindoo  father  and  mother,  and  tell  them  you  are  going  to  follow 
Christ,  they  will  cast  you  out  of  their  house  forever.  They  will  never  give 
you  a  meal,  or  another  penny  with  which  to  go  to  school.  They  will  persecute 
you  and  tiy  to  kill  you.  This  society  you  have  organized  will  treat  you,  pos- 
sibly, just  as  you  were  going  to  treat  other  men.  You  will  have  to  be  ready 
for  almost  anything  if  you  are  going  to  follow  Christ."  The  man  saw  that  it 
was  going  to  cost  something  to  follow  the  Savior.  He  saw  that  it  was  going  to 
cost  a  deal  more  not  to  follow  him,  and  he  decided  to  do  it.  It  was  only  a  few 
days  until  he  was  baptized,  professing  his  faith  in  the  Savior.  It  wasn't  very 
many  more  days  until  he  joined  a  band  of  Christian  workers  and  started 
around  from  one  village  to  another.  He  went  all  around  through  that  coun- 
try, proclaiming  everywhere  his  new-found  Savior;  and  the  man's  trans- 
formed life  was  a  more  powerful  message  even  than  his  wonderful  story,  and 
he  was  able  to  lead  a  great  many  other  men  out  into  the  joy  and  liberty  of  the 
sons  of  God. 

There  isn't  any  man  in  all  the  world  too  bad  to  be  saved  if  he  is  willing  to 
be  saved.  There  isn't  anybody  in  the  world  so  good  that  God  can  save  him 
against  his  will.  You  and  I  decide  everything  almost  by  our  will.  We  can 
do  what  we  want  to  do.  We  choose  our  own  destiny  and  our  own  eternity. 
God  makes  it  possible  for  us  to  be  clean,  victorious,  useful,  self-respecting 
men  if  we  choose  to  be;  but  there  is  no  possibility  of  being  all  that  without 
divine  help ;  and  his  help  is  available  to  every  man  who  will  accept  it  and 
join  his  kingdom.  There  isn't  any  message  that  men  everywhere  need  like 
that.  If  I  had  never  seen  one  of  you  before,  I  would  know  that  from  my 
contact  with  other  men  half-way  aroimd  the  world.  Every  man  is  tempted, 
you  and  I,  the  bishops,  all  the  rest,  are  tempted  men.  Another  thing  is  true 
of  us  all.  We  have  all  yielded  to  temptation,  every  one;  and  some  of  us  have 
gone  a  step  farther  down  still,  and  have  deliberately  been  the  tempters  of 
other  men  and  women.  God  save  us  from  getting  that  low  doMai.  Thank 
God,  there  are  steps  up  as  well  as  steps  down.  A  great  many  of  us  who  have 
been  tempted,  and  who  have  fallen,  have  learned  the  way  of  overcoming  temp- 
tation. That  is  a  step  higher  than  being  tempted,  overcoming  temptation, 
not  only  the  little  temptations,  but  the  big  ones.  There  is  power  enough  in 
God  to  enable  a  man  to  be  victorious  even  at  his  weakest  point;  otherwise 
Christ's  salvation  Avould  be  worth  nothing  to  a  man.  There  are  steps  higher 
up  still  than  victory  over  temptation.  There  is  another  step — helping  other 
men  to  overcome  temptation.  I  hope  we  are  all  going  to  get  on  to  that  plane. 
There  is  another  step  a  little  higher  still^ — outgrowing  some  of  the  tempta- 
tions that  possibly  may  have  been  very  powerful  at  the  early  stage  of  our 
lives ;  overcoming  by  keeping  in  fellowship  with  God  and  showing  those  about 
Tis  to  him.  Wlien  I  was  a  boy  they  used  to  do  a  good  deal  of  talking  about  saying 
"No."  I  think  there  is  some  virtue  in  saying  "No,"  but  I  believe  there  is  a 
good  deal  more  virtue  in  saying  "Yes"  to  the  right  parties.  .  If  a  man  will 
always  say  "Yes"  to  Christ,  he  will  not  have  to  say  "No"  very  much.    It  is  the 

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positive  life  that  we  need.  Overcome  evil  with  good,  and  the  man  who  is 
throwing  his  life  into  doing  the  right  thing  won't  have  a  very  hard  fight  with 
these  baser  temptations.  It  is  the  man  who  is  trying  to  stand  still  and  fight 
backwards  that  doesn't  get  anywhere.  That  is  saying  "No."  Saying  "Yes" 
is  going  right  out  into  the  thick  of  the  fight  where  men  are  falling,  in  the 
presence  of  foes  too  strong  for  any  man,  and  helping  the  man  up  into  a  decent, 
glorious,  divine  life.  Is  that  the  business  you  are  at?  It  is  the  only  thing 
worth  living  for.  I  am  not  a  bishop,  nor  a  preacher.  I  never  expect  to  be.  I 
am  a  layman,  a  farmer,  if  you  like;  the  farm  is  whei'e  I  spent  most  of  my  life; 
but  I  know  God,  and  I  know  what  he  can  do  in  a  life  like  mine.  I  know  that 
any  man  who  is  as  completely  in  slavery  to  sin  as  I  was,  and  who  has  been  set 
free,  has  found  a  prescription  which  will  work  in  every  case  where  men  will 
try.  I  don't  take,  I  don't  dare  take,  my  life  out  of  Christ's  hands  for  a  day  or 
an  hour.  I  wouldn't  be  safe  from  now  until  midnight  if  I  said  to  Christ, 
"Now,  you  go  away  and  let  me  alone  for  a  half  dozen  hours,"  nor  would 
anybody  else.  Some  Christian  men  do  that.  I  have  done  it  myself  some- 
times, since  I  was  first  forgiven  of  my  sins.  I  have  said,  "Lord,  now  you  go 
off  and  just  let  me  take  my  own  course,  and  let  myself  go  for  a  while."  Oh, 
what  a  fool  a  man  is  when  he  lets  himself  go !  But  tjur  lives  are  safe  when 
they  are  in  his  keeping,  and  just  as  long  as  they  are  in  his  keeping,  and  we 
never  fall  into  sin  until  we  decide  to  do  it.  Did  you  ever  think  of  that? 
No  man  ever  yields  until  his  will  yields,  and  then  the  whole  man  is  gone. 

I  heard  of  a  man  giving  a  course  of  lectures  away  over  there  in  Beirut, 
Syria,  on  these  subjects,  and  I  thinlv  I  never  heard  of  a  course  of  subjects 
more  appropriate.  "I  Am"  was  the  first  on^;  "I  Think,"  "I  Can,"  "I  Ought," 
and  "I  Will."  That  is  the  nearest  divinity  that  it  is  possible  to  get.  "I  will ;" 
that  is  what  decides  tilings.  Have  you  decided  that  you  will  live  ••!  godly  life 
by  the  presence  and  power  of  God  in  your  daily  life?  I  am  talking  to  profess- 
ing Christian  men  as  well  as  to  those  who  are  not.  The  shame  of  the  church 
is  that  so  many  of  lis  who  are  members  of  it  are  willing  to  live  a  defeated  life, 
and  that  is  the  reason  a  whole  lot  of  the  men  outside  of  the  cKurch  do  not 
think  we  have  got  a  religion  worth  possessing,  and  we  do  not  think  we  have 
got  a  religion  worth  passing  on.  That  is  the  reason  why  some  of  j^ou  men  do 
not  believe  in  foreign  missions.  You  do  not  believe  in  home  missions,  either. 
You  do  not  believe  in  your  own  salvation ;  and  possibly  some  time,  whether 
you  are  a  member  of  a  church  or  not,  you  will  wake  up  to  the  fact  that  you 
were  never  saved  at  all.  It  will  be  a  terrible  awakening;  but  if  you  have  not 
got  a  religion  worth  passing  on,  I  ask  you  to  examine  very  carefully  whether 
you  have  got  any  religion  at  all  that  has  any  power  in  your  own  life.  I  am 
willing  to  lay  down  my  life,  to  pass  my  religion  on  to  the  other  man,  because 
I  have  got  something  worth  believing  and  worth  sacrificing  for;  and  if  the 
thing  at  stake  is  big  enough,  worth  dying  for,  I  am  not  afraid  to  die  if  I  can 
do  something  worth  while  by  it.  What  are  you  living  for?  What  are  your 
heart  enjoyments  ?  Have  you  got  something  that  will  satisfy  you  even  in  your 
sober  moments  now,  or  are  you  the  victim  of  some  habit  that  is  sapping  your 
manhood  and  makes  it  impossible  for  you  to  respect  yourself  and  to  look  the 
other  man  straight  in  the  eye  ?  The  devil  will  trip  us  up  if  he  can.  Let  us  not 
let  him  do  it.    Let  us  be  men,  soldiers,  fighters,  winners.    Every  man  likes  to 

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be  on  the  winning  side.  I  never  used  to  like  to  play  on  a  football  team  that 
got  beat  very  much.  If  any  of  you  fellows  play  on  a  baseball  team,  you  want 
to  be  on  the  victorious  team.  If  any  of  you  went  to  war,  you  would  want  to 
be  on  the  winning  side,  though  it  cost  everything.  I  want  to  tell  you  men 
soraething.  The  men  who  stand  with  Jesus  Christ  are  going  to  be  on  the 
winning  side  just  as  sure  as  you  live,  and  it  is  the  only  side  that  can  win ;  and 
if  you  want  to  be  on  the  winning  side,  get  alongside  of  him  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible, and  stay  there. 

"Choose  I  must,  and  soon  must  choose  holiness  or  heaven  lose : 
If  what  heaven  loves  I  hate,  shut  from  me  is  heaven's  gate. 
Endless  sin  means  endless  woe;  into  endless  sin  I  go; 
If  my  soul  from  reason  rent,  take  from  sin  its  final  bent ; 
Light  obeyed  increaseth  light,  light  resisted  bringeth  night. 
Who  will  give  me  will  to  choose,  if  the  love  of  light  I  lose? 
Haste,  my  soul,  this  instant  yield;  let  the  light  its  scepter  wield, 
Wliile  my  God  prolongeth  grace,  haste  thee  to  this  holy  face." 

Will  you  let  him  be  the  Lord  and  Savior  of  your  life,  whether  you  call  your- 
self a  Christian  or  not? 

««^ 

Prayer. 

O  God,  our  Father,  it  is  a  very  blessed  thing  that  thou  hast  revealed  thyself 
to  us  in  all  the  tenderness,  and  more,  of  a  mother,  and  in  all  the  power  to  save 
that  thy  omnipotence  can  command.  We  thank  thee  for  thy  promise  that  sin 
shall  not  have  dominion  over  us,  and  thy  command  is,  "Present  yourself  unto 
God."  And  we  pray  that  all  of  us  may  be  wise  enough  to  follow  thy  definite 
instruction,  and  let  thee  do  for  us  and  in  us  what  no  man  of  us  can  do  for 
himself.  We  pray  that  thou  wilt  first  of  all  forgive  our  past,  no  matter  how 
black  it  may  be;  for  there  is  no  man  of  us  who  has  sunk  so  low  that  thou  canst 
not  lift  him  up  and  set  his  feet  upon  a  rock,  and  there  is  no  one  of  us  who  is 
so  in  bondage  to  any  temptation,  no  matter  what  it  is,  that  thou  art  not  able 
to  set  him  free  from  it  and  keep  him  free  from  it  by  divine  power.  And 
whether  we  are  professing  Christians  or  not,  Lord,  we  need  thee  above  every- 
thing else,  and  we  need  thee  every  hour.  We  cannot  get  along  without  thee,  and 
we  pray  that  we  may  to-day  have  a  faith  that  will  take  thee  at  fhy  word  and 
let  thee  come  into  our  lives  in  fiillness,  and  just  make  us  like  thyself,  the  kind 
of  men  who  go  about  everywhere,  as  our  friend  Sinclair  used  to  do,  helping  other 
men.  We  pray  thou  wilt  make  us  like  our  Ix)rd.  We  thank  thee  that  he  has  helped 
so  many  men  into  a  better  life,  that  he  is  helping  so  many  now,  and  that  there 
are  a  good  many  of  us  who  know  what  it  is  to  be  saved  and  to  be  kept  just  so 
far  as  we  are  willing  to  be  kept.  ^Vhen  we  have  fallen  and  brought  disgrace 
upon  thee,  it  has  not  been  thy  fault,  Lord.  We  want  to  say  that  to  thee 
franlvly,  no  failure  of  ours  is  chargeable  to  thee.  Thy  power  has  been  great 
enough  to  keep  us  always  if  we  would  let  thee  do  it;  but  we  have  taken  our 

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Bible  Conference  Addresses 

lives  out  of  thy  keeping,  then  we  have  gotten  into  trouble.  Lord,  wilt  thou 
forgive  us  for  these  failures  and  for  this  foolishness,  and  for  any  false  pride 
that  we  may  have,  thinlving  that  we  are  strong  enough  to  do  this  business 
alone?  Lord,  wilt  thou  keep  the  devil  from  beguiling  us  by  that  kind  of  temp- 
tation? Oh,  help  us  to  see  that  for  every  one  of  us,  without  any  exception, 
there  is  just  one  way  to  keep  right,  and  that  is  by  the  way  of  Christ  and  the 
cross  and  the  presence  of  God  in  our  lives.  Since  it  is  possible  to  have  this 
.gift,  and  to  have  it  now,  and  have  it  always,  just  by  taking  it,  make  us  wise 
men  to-day  to  decide  to  take  it.  Give  us  the  will,  we  pray  thee,  to  choose  the 
right  thing,  and  to  choose  it  without  dallying  about  it  and  so  giving  the  devil 
a  further  chance  to  win  us  away  by  his  forces.  Wilt  thou,  we  pray  thee,  come 
upon  us  all  by  thine  own  loving,  tender  spirit,  and  woo  us  to  thyself.  Oh, 
help  us  this  hour  to  decide  for  Christ,  that  everything  shall  be  surrendered  to 
him;  that  no  sin  shall  be  clung  to,  no  matter  how  little  it  may  seem,  or  how 
secret.  O  God,  help  us  to  be  done  with  those  things  that  are  not  helping  us 
for  peace,  purity,  and  power.  Do  help  us,  we  pray  thee,  those  of  us  who  have 
believed  in  thee  for  forgiveness,  and  who  know  something  about  that  power. 
Lord,  help  us  to  entrust  ourselves  to  thee  utterly,,  that  we  may  be  the  kind  of 
men  who  will  be  good  advertisements  for  thee,  and  who  will  show  to  other 
men  that  are  a  little  doubtful  about  whether  there  is  anything  in  this,  that 
there  is  everything  in  it,  and  that  Christ  is  abundantly  able  to  save.  And  wilt 
thou  attract  to  thyself  any  men  who  are  here  to-day  who  have  never  even  been 
forgiven  of  their  sins  and  never  made  any  public  profession  of  thee.  O  God, 
grant  them  grace  to  decide  to  assert  themselves;  may  their  wills  be  moved, 
and  may  they  say,  "Yes,  Christ,  I  accept  thy  forgiveness.  Yes,  Lord,  I 
accept  thy  power  of  keeping  in  the  hours  of  temptation;"  and  so  may  many 
of  us  this  afternoon  enter  upon  a  higher  plane  of  life  than  we  have  known 
before,  and  we  know  that  as  the  result  of  it  the  world  will  be  better,  and  our 
lives  will  be  a  great  deal  happier,  and  we  will  be  a  great  deal  more  useful  and 
successful  in  everything  we  undertake.  So  do  thou  hear  us  and  help  us  and 
move  us  all  utterly  by  thy  Spirit  to  thine  own  choices  for  us,  in  the  name  of 
our  Lord.    Amen. 

The  Arion  Quartet  sang,  "Hark,  the  Spirit's  voice  is  saying." 
Mr.  White:  I  am  not  going  to  leave  this  whole  thing  depend  on  my  state- 
ment and  my  testimony.  There  are  men  here  who  know  just  as  much  about 
Christ  as  I  do,  and  by  the  mouth  of  more  than  one  witness  things  are  more 
firmly  established.  We  have  not  time  for  any  more  speeches,  but  we  have  time 
to  hear  from  some  of  you  men,  who  in  a  single  sentence  might  tell  out  of  your 
own  experience  whether  or  not  the  things  1  have  been  saying  about  Christ  are 
true.  I  don't  know  any  reason  why  you  shouldn't  do  that.  I  wish  we  might 
have  some  testimonies  of  that  kind  for  the  sake  of  any  men  who  may  be  in 
doubt  about  it.  May  we  not  hear  in  just  a  minute  or  two  from  a  number  of 
you  men,  who  know  that  Christ  is  able  to  save  and  keep  ? 

One-half  hour  was  given  to  the  hearing  of  testimonies,  and  the  time  was 
well  improved,  as  scores  testified  as  to  the  experiences  of  God  in  their  lives. 

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Unioft  Biblical  Seminary 

The  Arion  Quartet  then  sang,  "  'T  is  the  old-time  religion,  it  is  good  enough 
for  me." 

Mr.  White :  I  thank  you.  It  is  good  enough  for  us  all ;  and  we  can  all  have 
it,  and  we  can  all  have  it  now;  but  none  of  us  will  get  it  unless  we  take  it. 
I  am  going  to  ask  Doctor  Punk  to  lead  us  in  a  closing  prayer,  that  we  may  all 
go  out  to  a  greater  life  of  victory  than  we  have  ever  known  before. 

Doctor  Funk's  Prayer. 

O  God,  our  Father,  we  do  thank  thee  for  this  service.  We  thank  thee  that 
our  hearts  have  been  given  to  Jesus  Christ;  that  in  that  surrender  we  have 
agreed  to  follow  him;  and  this  afternoon  with  gladness  we  look  up  into  his 
face  and  confess  him  and  covenant  anew  to  follow  him.  O  Holy  Spirit,  seal 
our  covenants  just  now,  and  may  we  realize  as  we  go  out  from  this  place  that 
we  are  stronger  to  meet  temptation ;  that  we  have  been  filled  with  the  spirit  of 
power  from  thee.  O  God,  and  that  in  this  strength  we  can  do  service  for  him. 
We  pray  thy  blessing  upon  the  word  that  has  come  to  these  men,  to  us,  this 
afternoon;  may  it  bear  fruit  in  our  lives.  O  God,  help  this  man  close  here 
not  simply  to  surrender  his  money,  but  to  give  himself  unto  the€.  O  God, 
thou  dost  ask  for  his  heart;  help  him  to  give  his  heart  to  thee.  Hear  us  for 
the  work  of  this  great  Association  in  this  city.  Send  thou  thy  Spirit  to  each 
member,  and  may  the  men  of  this  city  be  brought  to  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  may  the  power  of  sin  not  have  dominion  over  them.  Hear  us;  in  Jesus' 
name  we  ask  it.    Amen. 

Mr.  White:    Now,  let  us  all  stand,  men,  and  unite  in  the  Lord's  Prayer. 
The  audience  arose  and  repeated  the  Lord's  Prayer  with  Mr.  White,  after 
which  they  were  dismissed. 


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Bible  Conference  Addresses 


^undap  Ctieninff.' 


Sunday  Evening,  7:30,  May  6,  1906. 

The  meeting  at  Summit  Street  Church  was  the  closing  of  the  baccalaureate 
services. 

The  Arion  Quartet  sang  "Rock  of  Ages,"  after  which  the  congregation 
joined  in  singing,  "Worship  the  King." 

Mr.  White  read  the  145th  Psalm/  and  led  in 

Prayer. 

O  God,  our  Father,  we  thank  thee  that  we  have  a  God  like  this,  that  we 
know  thee  whom  to  know  is  life  eternal ;  that  thou  dost  satisfy  every  longing 
of  our  souls,  and  that  thou  dost  fill  us  with  the  confident  assurance  of  eternal 
happiness  in  thy  fellowship.  We  thank  thee  that  when  once  we  abandon  our- 
selves to  thee  and  thy  will,  thot;  dost  give  us  a  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory.  We  thank  thee,  Lord,  for  all  the  way  by  Avhich  thou  hast  led  us,  and  all 
the  proofs  we  have  of  thy  loving-kindness  and  thy  faitlifulness.  ISTot  one  word 
has  failed  of  all  that  thou  hast  promised  to  be  and  to  do.  All  failures  of  our 
past  lives  we  hold  ourselves  accountable  for.  We  know  it  is  not  becaiTse  thou 
hast  not  been  able  to  save  us  utterly,  that  we  have  not  been  always  fully  saved. 
It  has  been  oiir  own  fault  when  we  have  fallen  into  disobedience  and  fruitless- 
ness  and  coldness,  and  we  take  the  blame  and  we  ask  for  thy  forgiveness.  We 
know  that  thou  art  able  to  keep  us  if  we  will  let  thee  do  it,  and  therefore  we 
pray  that  we  may  come  to  the  point  where  we  shall  let  thee  have  thy  way.  We 
do  pray  that  we  may  see  the  wisdom  of  turning  over  the  control  of  life  to  the 
One  who  knows  most  about  it,  and  who  is  able  to  guide  it  and  direct  it  in  a 
way  that  will  satisfy  oiirselves.  Our  own  experiments  with  our  lives  have  been 
very  unsatisfactory.  Every  time  we  have  followed  our  own  course  we  have  got 
into  trouble  and  into  sin,  and  had  to  confess  it  with  shanie  and  start  over 
again ;  but  every  time  we  have  followed  thee,  even  thoiigh  the  way  hasn't 
seemed  very  clear,  we  have  come  out  into  larger  light  and  larger  blessings  and 
larger  usefulness.  Why  can't  we  learn  the  lesson  of  following  thee  all  the 
time  ?  Wilt  thou  help  us  to  be  wise  learners  in  thy  school,  and  to  let  thee  teach 
us  that  it  is  safe  to  follow  God  and  safe  to  tr\ist  him,  and  that  the  only  wis- 
dom is  in  doing  his  will  ?  We  thank  thee  for  the  way  thou  hast  led  and  guided 
us  during  these  past  two  or  three  days,  for  the  way  thou  hast  manifested  thy- 
self to  our  innermost  hearts,  for  the  weaknesses  thou  hast  revealed  to  us  all  in 
our  own  lives;  but  we  also  thank  thee  for  the  mighty  strength  thou  hast  re- 
vealed in  Christ  that  is  available  for  us  every  one,  and,  oh,  help  us,  we  pray 
thee  to-night  again  to  be  brought  into  such  face-to-face  touch  with  thee  that 

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we  shall  each  receive  from  thee  the  thing  we  most  need.  Show  us,  we  pray 
thee,  Lord,  where  the  great  weaknesses  of  our  lives  are,  and  may  we  come  to 
thee  to  be  satisfied.  We  thank  thee  that  our  God  is  able  to  supply  every  need 
of  ours  according  to  his  riches  in  glory  in  Jesus  Christ.  May  we  let  thee  sat- 
isfy us.  Lord,  and  do  it  now,  and  we  pray  that  no  one  may  go  away  to-night 
with  a  hungry,  unsatisfied  heart.  Oh,  may  our  wills  be  moved  by  the  Spirit  to 
take  by  appropriating  faith  of  the  riches  that  God  is  oifering  to  us  all,  and  go 
out  into  the  world  as  his  soldiers  and  ambassadors,  to  change  this  world 
through  thy  mighty  working  in  and  through  us.  The  world  needs -changing. 
Thou  hast  said  that  it  will  be  changed,  and  that  the  day  is  coming  when  the 
earth  shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God,  even  as  the  waters 
fill  the  sea;  and  thou  hast  said  that  thy  people  are  to  be  the  instruments  in 
bringing  this  about,  and  thou  dost  wish  us  to  be  these  instruments,  and  we 
pray  that  we  may  not  hinder  thee,  but  in  whatever  way  thou  canst  use  us,  help 
us  to  lend  ourselves  to  thee  for  thy  use.  What  a  glorious  thing  it  is  that  we 
have  a  chance  to  be  the  tools  of  God  in  transforming  the  world,  in  bringing 
inexpressible  and  endless  peace  and  joy  into  coiintless  other  lives,  in  having 
them  share  with  us  these  things  that  are  so  precious  to  us  that  there  isn't  gold 
enough  in  the  world  to  buy  them  away  from  us.  Oh,  we  thank  thee,  Lord,  for 
what  we  have  in  Christ.  Help  us,  we  pray  thee,  to  share  it  just  as  far  as  we 
can  possibly  reach,  with  our  brother  men.  If  any  one  has  come  in  here  to-night 
who  has  not  yet  really  made  personal  connections  with  thee,  Lord,  may  those 
connections  be  made  here  to-night.  We  pray  that  by  the  overshadowing  pres- 
ence of  the  Spirit  of  God  working  in  all  our  hearts,  we  may  be  wooed  and  won 
to  the  Savior,  as  the  only  one  who  can  meet  our  need  and  satisfy  our  longing 
souls.  And  wilt  thou  direct  this  meeting  to-night,  step  by  step,  according  to 
thine  own  prearranged  plan.  Thou  hast  a  perfect  plan  for  it,  although  we 
have  very  little  plan  of  any  kind,  but  let  thy  plan  be  unfolded  and  entered 
into,  and  let  us  all  be  willing  tools  in  thy  hands  to  say  anything  that  ought  to 
be  said,  to  do  anything  thy  Spirit  suggests,  whether  we  have  thought  of  doing 
it  before  or  not,  and  may  we  have  a  demonstration  here  to-night  of  what  the 
Spirit  of  God  can  do  with  a  meeting  when  people  lend  themselves  to  him.  May 
we  have  the  liberty  of  utterance  and  the  unity  of  spirit,  and  the  pervasive 
spirit  of  tender  brotherly  kindness  and  sympathy  that  always  comes  where  the 
Spirit  of  God  is  allowed  to  come  and  have  his  way.  And  so  wilt  thou  make  us 
all  better  men  and  women  and  children  because  of  meeting  thee  here  and 
having  this  fellowship  in  thy  presence.  May  we  go  out  to  a  larger  life  and  a 
larger  service  and  a  larger  usefulness  than  oiir  lives  have  ever  known  before, 
for  we  ask  it  expectantly  in  the  name  of  him  who  is  worthy  and  who  has  told 
us  to  pray  in  his  name,  and  he  has  said  to  us  that  whatsoever  we  ask  in  his 
name,  that  will  he  do,  and  we  praise  thee  for  what  thou  art  going  to  do  for  us 
through  him.    Amen. 

Song  No.  221,  "Holy  Spirit,  Faithful  Guide,"  was  then  sung. 

Address  by  J.  Campbell  White. 

This  meeting  was  not  in  the  original  program,  and  I  have  been  so  busy  with 
other  things  to-day  that  I  confess  I  almost  lost  sight  of  it — almost,  until  I 

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came  into  the  meeting  here  and  saw  this  andience.  It  is  hard,  when  one  sees 
a  crowd,  not  to  realize  that  it  is  there.  It  is  easy  to  walk  by  sight  in  that  case, 
I  was. thinking  of  the  delegates  from  outside,  particularly  those  that  would 
want  to  have  a  part  in  this  service  before  it  closes ;  but  possibly  for  the  sake ' 
of  those  who  have  not  been  here  at  the  previous  sessions,  and  I  imagine  there 
are  qviite  a  number  of  that  kind,  I  had  better  say  a  few  things,  to  sort  of  gather 
up  the  spirit  of  the  conference  a  little  bit,  although  you  will  have  to  excuse 
me  if  it  does  not  hang  together  the  way  the  addresses  do  of  the  preachers  gen- 
erally. You  will  have  to  make  a  good  many  allowances  for  me  these  days, 
when  you  remember  that  I  am  not  a  preacher  at  all. 

I  feel  like  saying,  first  of  all,  that  my  heart  is  full  of  praise  to  (>od  for  the 
clear  evidences  of  his  love  during  these  last  three  days.  I  have  been  doing  a 
good  deal  of  talking  of  one  kind  and  another  to  our  own  churches,  but  I  con- 
fess that  when  your  committee  asked  me  to  come  down  and  talk  to  you  here 
day  after  day  for  two  or  three  days,  I  really  was  almost  afraid  to  try  it,  and 
hesitated  more  about  accepting  this  invitation  than  anything  I  have  had  to 
consider  for  a  long  time.  And  so  it  is  with  real  appreciation  of  the  fact  that 
God  has  helped  us  through,  that  I  speak  as  I  do  to-night. 

I  have  been  conscious  from  day  to  day  that  he  was  deciding  on  the  subjects 
to  be  spoken  about  and  has  been  leading  in  the  proceedings,  and  I  believe  all 
of  us  have  been  conscious  that  he  has  been  here,  and  this  gives  me  fresh  faith 
to  undertake  other  things  that  I  have  not  tried  before.  I  suspect  we  have  got 
to  go  on  learning  all  through  our  lives  to  do  unusual  things  if  we  fire  going  to 
do  all  the  things  God  wants  us  to  do,  and  I  confess  to  you  that  this  experience 
here  has  been  about  as  unvisual  an  experience  as  I  have  had  in  my  life.  But 
I  believe  God  is  willing  to  carry  any  of  us  through  anything  he  definitely  pvits 
us  into,  and  I  wish  we  could  learn  that  lesson  for  the  whole  church,  for,  after 
all,  that  is  a  question  with  which  we  are  confronted — a  question  of  whether  or 
not  it  is  possible  to  obey  God.  There  are  a  whole  lot  of  people  who  don't  be- 
lieve it  is,  and  that  is  the  reason  we  are  not  going  out  to  the  conquest  of  the 
world.  You  talk  to  people  and  say  to  them,  that  we  ought  to  evangelize  the  whole 
world,  and  they  say,  "Wliy,  it  is  rubbish;  it  is  nonsense;  it  is  fanaticism;  you 
can't  do  it."  Well,  God  said  we  should  do  it,  and  that  ought  to  settle  it.  God 
said  we  should  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,  and  if  he  had  not  meant  it, 
he  wouldn't  have  said  it;  and  if  it  were  not  possible  he  wouldn't  have  said  it; 
and  the  only  thing  that  makes  it  impossible  is  our  unbelief.  I  wish  we  might 
have  a  faith  like  that  which  characterized  Carey  one  hundred  years  ago  when 
he  stopped  cobbling  shoes  and  w?nt  out  to  India  as  a  pioneer  missionary, 
taking  as  the  keynote  of  his  life,  "Expect  great  things  from  God  and  attempt 
great  things  for  God."  He  didn't  have  very  much  encouragement;  even  the 
preachers  in  the  conference  thought  he  had  better  sit  down  and  let  God  look 
after  this  thing  himself;  if  God  had  wanted  the  heathen  saved  he  would  have 
done  it  long  ago  himself  without  Carey's  puny  cooperation.  It  showed  how 
far  they  had  gotten  away  from  the  divine  standard;  for  God  always  said  that 
he  meant  to  do  his  work  through  us,  and  that  he  had  chosen  the  weak  things  of 
the  world  to  confound  the  mighty,  and  he  was  waiting  for  somebody  who  would 
trust  him  and  obey  hiui,  to  begin  one  of  the  mightiest  movements  of  modern 
history.    It  was  the  same  kind  of  faith  that  Adoniram  Judson  had  when  he  went 

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out  as  the  first  missionary  to  Biirmah  in  connection  with  the  Baptist  Church. 
He  had  to  work  seven  years  before  he  won  the  first  man  to  Christ.  A  friend 
of  his  wrote  to  him  after  he  had  been  working'  away  there  for  a  long  time,  and 
said,  "Mr.  Judson,  what  are  the  prospects?"  and  he  wrote  back,  "The  prospects 
are  as  bright  as  the  promises  of  God."  They  are  as  bright  as  that  yet;  and 
God's  promises  include  the  conquest  of  this  world  and  its 'subjection  to  him; 
and  it  is  time  we  would  trust  them  and  walk  out  on  them  to  victory.  It  took  a 
good  deal  of  faith  for  Morrison  to  go  out  to  China  about  one  hundred  years  ago. 
He  was  working  in  an  office  in  London,  and  when  it  was  announced  around 
among  the  men  in  the  office  that  he  had  decided  to  go  out  as  a  missionary  to 
China,  they  came  to  him  one  after  another  and  told  him  how  foolish  it  was. 
"Why,"  they  said,  "do  you  expect  to  be  able  to  change  those  Chinese,  who  have 
gone  on  with  their  foolish  heathen  superstitions  for  himdreds  of  years?"  Mor- 
rison said,  "No,  I  don't  expect  to  be  able  to  change  them ;  but  God  can."  And 
God  is  doing  it ;  tens  of  thousands  of  them  to-day  are  worshiping  God  as  truly 
as  you  are.  Thousands  of  them  three  or  four  years  ago  preferred  to  have  their 
heads  cut  off  rather  than  deny  their  Lord.  A  friend  of  mine  working  up  in 
north  China,  in  charge  of  a  congregation  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
people,  kept  them  together  and  shielded  them  from  danger  as  long  as  he  could, 
and  when  they  were  finally  scattered  like  sheep  among  the  wolves,  and  they 
gathered  them  up,  or  tried  to,  when  it  was  all  over — two  hundred  and  fifty,  I 
ought  to  have  said — when  they  gathered  them  up,  only  half  of  them  were  left, 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five;  and  of  the  whole  crowd  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty,  only  one  had  saved  his  life  by  denying  his  Lord.  I  wonder 
what  congregation  woiild  stand  that  test  in  our  country.  God  can  change  the 
Chinese,  and  he  is  doing  it,  and  we  shall  have  a  million  Chinese  turning  to 
God  in  a  single  year,  and  year  after  year,  before  long;  and  then  it  will  go  up  to 
four  or  five  millions  a  year.  I  hope  to  live  to  see  the  day  when  they  report  the 
Chinese  converts  by  tens  of  millions  in  single  years.  It  has  got  to  be  some- 
thing like  that,  for  four  hundred  millions  of  them  die  every  generation  and 
four  hundred  millions  of  new  ones  come  on,  and  you  have  got  to  save  them  at 
the  rate  of  ten  or  fifteen  millions  a  year  to  get  them  all  saved  in  a  generation. 

I  wish  we  had  the  kind  of  faith  that  Eauch  had  as  ntissionary  to  the  North 
American  Indians.  He  woi'ked  away  among  the  red  savages  for  a  long  time 
without  seeming  to  make  any  impression  on  them.  He  finally  wrote  back  to  a 
friend,  saying,  "I  must  believe  what  is  apparently  quite  impossible  when  I  be- 
lieve that  any  of  these  poor  savages  will  ever  become  humble  Christians."  But 
he  added,  "No  door  closed  and  barred  by  the  devil  is  so  strong  that  Jesus 
Christ  cannot  burst  it  open."  And  in  that  kind  of  confidence  he  lived  on  and 
worked  on  and  prayed  on  until  hundreds  of  these  savages  flung  open  the  doors 
of  their  hearts  to  the  incoming  of  the  Son  of  God. 

What  we  need  to-day  above  everything  else  is  an  all-conquering  faith  that 
God  can  do  what  he  said  he  would  do,  and  that  he  can  do  it  through  us  if  we 
will  let  him. 

There  are  two  theories  of  the  Christian  church.  One  is  that  it  is  a  fort  and 
its  members  are  guards,  and  their  chief  dtity  is  to  hold  the  fort  and  keep  the 
devil  from  making  any  fresh  encroachments.  A  good  many  of  your  churches 
have  been  working  that  way,  with  the  result  that  they  have  not  even  held  the 

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fort ;  the  devil  has  got  on  the  inside,  and  we  never  will  hold  the  fort  unless  we 
try  to  do  more.  The  other  theory  is  that  the  church  of  Christ  is  an  army  of 
universal  conquest,  and  that  under  the  leadership  of  the  Great  Captain  of  our 
Salvation  we  are  here  to  transform  the  world.  And  when  we  live  in  that  kind 
of  spirit  we  don't  need  to  sing,  "Hold  the  fort,"  for  we  are  going  to  capture 
the  other  man's  fort,  the  devil's  fort.  Napoleon  laid  it  down  as  a  military 
maxim  that  the  army  that  remains  in  its  intrenchments  is  already  beaten.  And 
it  ought  to  be.  It  is  the  army  that  attacks  that  wins.  When  the  Japanese 
stood  before  Port  Arthur  after  tens  of  thousands  of  them  had  been  mowed 
down,  they  sent  word  back  to  the  Emperor  that  the  thing  was  impossible,  and 
the  Emperor  sent  back  word,  "The  Emperor  expects  you  to  accomplish  the  im- 
possible"; and  they  did  it.  And  God  expects  us  to  accomplish  the  absolutely 
impossible;  and  he  will  find  people  after  awhile  who  will  trust  him  and  do  it. 
Shall  we  be  among  these  people?  We  may  be.  How  many  of  you  hope  to  live 
to  see  the  day  when  the  world  is  evangelized,  when  every  one,  everywhere,  has 
a  chance  to  be  saved?  I  do.  Why  shouldn't  we?  You  say,  "Why  that  would 
be  a  miracle."  God  wrought  one  over  in  the  theater  this  afternoon  when  a 
man  found  life  and  resurrection  from  the  dead. 
A  voice :     "Two." 

Mr.  White :  That  is  all  right,  two  miracles  then.  He  is  ready  to  perform 
some  more.  He  is  the  omnipotent  God,  and  all  he  wants  is  channels  through 
which  to  let  his  power  out. 

There  are  three  or  four  things  we  have  all  got  to  do  if  we  are  going  to  be  the 
best  and  do  the  best  for  him  in  this  fight.  They  are  all  things  that  the  Bible 
emphasized.  They  are  indicated  there  on  that  map,  "Know,  pray,  go,  pay." 
If  you  keep  those  things  in  your  hearts  you  will  have  a  pretty  good  idea  of  the 
cardinal  Biblical  obligations  towards  the  world.  "Know."  Is  there  any  Bible, 
authority  for  that  ?  Look  over  in  the  fourth  chapter  of  John,  and  hear  Christ 
saying,  "Lift  up  your  eyes,  and  look  on  the  fields;  for  they  are  white,  ali'eady 
to  harvest"- — dead  ripe.  You  farmers  know  what  a  field  is  when  it  gets  white 
to  harvest,  what  a  white  field  is ;  it  is  dead  ripe  then,  and  it  has  got  to  be  cut 
right  away  or  it  is  going  to  be  spoiled,  and  that  is  the  way  all  the  world  now 
is — dead  ripe,  over-ripe.  You  say  there  is  no  hvu-ry  about  it;  no  use  of  getting 
excited  about  all  this  business;  it  has  been  going  on  for  a  long  time.  If  your 
people,  your  family,  had  been  going  on  perishing  for  a  long  time,  wovild  it 
lessen  the  importance  of  reaching  the  rest?  I  heard  a  minister  preaching 
over  in  the  city  of  Washington  a  few  weeks  ago.  He  said  he  was  going  over 
the  Alleghany  Mountains  in  one  of  the  fast  trains  on  one  of  the  coldest  winter 
nights  when  the  thermometer  was  away  down  below  zero,  rushing  down  the 
mountain  side  at  a  terrific  pace,  when  all  at  once  the  emergency  brakes  were 
thrown  on  with  such  suddenness  that  every  man  plunged  forward  in  his  seat, 
and  they  all  understood  that  something  unusual  had  happened  when  the  train 
was  stopped  so  suddenly.  Though  the  night  was  so  cold,  he  got  out  with  the 
conductor  to  go  forward  to  see  what  was  the  matter.  The  engineer  and  the 
fireman  were  already  down  on  the  ground,  and  they  went  forward  together, 
only  a  few  paces,  until  they  came  to  the  old  night-watchman,  with  snow  and 
frost  all  over  his  whiskers,  in  the  bitter  cold  night,  on  one  dollar  and  sixty 
cents  a  day,  and  he  just  held  his  lantern  near  by  the  rail  where,  as  the  previous 

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train  had  passed  over  a  sharp  curve,  the  rail  had  snapped  and  was  standing 
away  apart.  The  engineer,  as  he  looked  at  it,  said  to  the  condvictor,  "If  we 
had  struck  that  curve  at  the  rate  we  were  going,  it  would  have  been  moving 
day  for  us  all."  And  the  old  night-watchman,  glancing  back  along  the  train 
with  two  hundred  and  fifty  precious  lives  on  board,  said,  "Yes,  and  you  never 
would  have  known  the  curve  was  there  if  I  had  not  got  here  fifteen  minutes 
ahead  of  time.  I  was  afraid  of  this  ciirve,  and  came  with  all  spped  that  I 
might  get  here  ahead  of  the  train." 

My  Christian  friends,  when  hundreds  of  millions  of  our  brother  men  are 
rushing  onward  in  fearful  peril  to  their  eternal  doom,  it  matters,  oh,  it  mat- 
ters whether  we  get  there  only  fifteen  minutes  ahead  of  time  or  twenty-five 
years  too  late.  It  matters  to  Christ.  Does  it  matter  to  you  ?  If  we  know,  we 
will  surely  want  to  do ;  and  the  next  thing  God  wants  us  to  do  is  to  pray.  That 
was  the  only  thing  in  a  way  he  said  to  do  in  that  connection.  He  said  the 
harvest  is  very  large  and  the  laborers  are  very  few;  pray,  therefore;  and  he 
seemed  to  think  that  was  enough ;  and  it  is.  If  you  will  pray  as  Christ  meant 
you  should  pray,  I  will  not  ask  you  to  do  anj^thing  else.  Wliat  happened 
when  those  disciples  began  to  pray  that  prayer?  It  wasn't  very  long  until 
they  were  all  of  them  in  the  job  themselves.  It  was  their  call.  When  they 
began  to  pray  people  might  occupy  these  fields,  the  Lord  laid  his  hands  upon 
them  and  said,  "Here,  you  are  the  very  people;"  and  they  went  right  out  into 
it.  There  is  no  use  of  your  praying  that  kind  of  a  prayer  unless  you  are  will- 
ing to  go  into  the  field  if  God  wants  you  to  go;  absokite  nonsense  to  pray  and 
not  be  ready  to  do  the  thing  that  God  suggests.  It  is  not  prayer,  it  is  merely 
saying  words ;  it  is  mockeiy ;  it  is  hypocrisy.  There  is  no  need  in  your  praying 
that  prayer  and  then  when  your  fine  college  boy  or  girl  of  fifteen,  or  eighteen, 
or  twenty  years  of  age,  writes  home  saying,  "Here,  I  find  that  there  is  a  world 
to  save  and  I  want  to  go  out  and  help  to  teach  them,"  you  write  back  and 
say,  "Oh,  no ;  I  have  been  praying  that  the  Lord  will  send  somebody  else,  but 
not  you."  No  use  in  praying  while  you  have  that  kind  of  an  attitude  towards 
your  children  going.  Unless  you  are  willing  that  your  children  shall  go  to 
Africa  or  China,  I  tell  you  I  would  advise  you  not  to  pray  the  Lord  of  the 
harvest  to  send  out  any  workers.  You  can't  do  it  with  any  reality.  You  can't 
get  anybody  to  go  unless  you  are  willing  that  God  should  send  anybody  he 
wants  to  send.  If  we  are  going  into  this  business  at  all,  let  us  go  into  it  hon- 
estly. If  we  want  God  to  send  the  workers,  let  us  let  him  send  those  whom  he 
chooses.  We  have  got  five  little  children  at  our  house,  all  born  yonder  in 
India.  I  think  we  love  them  as  much  as  you  love  your  children.  We  love 
them  as  much  as  we  know  how  to  love  them;  and  our  highest  ambition  for 
them  all  is  that  when  they  come  to  matiirity  they  may  be  so  in  sympathy  with 
Christ  that  they  will  seek  out  the  darkest  part  of  the  world  they  can  find, 
that  they  may  there  shine  for  Christ,  and  make  some  of  the  black  v>'orld  bright 
with  his  presence.  Is  there  anything  better  than  that  for  our  children  to  do  ? 
I  don't  know  anything  better  than  that  for  my  children  to  do.  I  have  a  great 
deal  of  sympathy  with  my  friend  Pitkin.  Some  of  you  college  men  knew  him. 
He  used  to  be  going  around  among  the  colleges  talking  to  the  students  before 
he  went  out  to  China.  He  and  his  beautiful  young  wife  stopped  in  our  home  in 
Calcutta,  India  for  a  week  on  their  way  to  China.  They  went  out  and  settled  in 

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Bible  Conference  Addresses 

Paotingfu,  away  in  the  north  of  the  Chinese  Empire.  Mrs.  Pitkin  and  her 
little  boy  came  back  into  this  country  three  months  before  the  Boxer  rebel- 
lion broke  out,  little  dreaming  of  the  baptism  of  blood  through  which  the 
Chinese  church  was  to  pass.  When  the  Boxers  gathered  around  my  friend's 
house,  they  prepared  to  cut  off  his  head  and  mutilate  his  l)ody  with  their 
spears.  His  head  was  carried  off  by  them,  and  has  never  been  recovered,  and 
never  will  be  until  the  resurrection  day.  When  he  realized  what  was  coming, 
he  turned  to  a  Chinese  native  convert  and  said  to  him,  "When  this  is  all  over, 
I  want  you  to  send  word  to  my  wife  in  America  that  when  our  boy  gets  to  be 
twenty-five  years  of  age,  I  want  him  to  come  out  aod  take  my  place."  Would 
you  do  that?  .  Woidd  anything  but  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  lead  a  man  to 
do  that?  But  if  you  had  seen  China  as  Pitkin  saw  it,  and  what  Christ  could 
do  for  China,  as  he  saw  it,  and  were  in  sympathy  with  Christ  as  he  was,  that 
is  exactly  what  you  would  do. 

The  mother  of  Henry  Lyman,  when  she  heard  that  her  son  had  been  slain 
and  devoured  by  cannibals  in  the  South  Seas,  exclaimed  as  soon  as  she  could 
control  herself  to  speak,  "Oh,  what  can  these  poor  people  do  without  the 
gospel  of  Jesus  Christ?  I  thank  God  that  he  ever  gave  me  such  a  son,  and  I 
never  desired  so  much  as  1  do  at  this  moment  that  some  other  one  of  my  chil- 
dren might  devote  his  life  to  go  out  and  preach  the  gospel  to  those  savage  men 
who  have  slain  Henry." 

We  were  up  in  Monmouth  College  a  few  weeks  ago,  talking  to  the  young 
men  and  women  about  giving  their  lives  to  our  mission  work.  One  of  them 
arose  in  a  meeting  of  students  and  said  that  he  had  decided  some  days  before 
to  do  it,  and  had  written  home  to  his  mother,  telling  her  his  decision  and  ask- 
ing for  her  consent ;  that  she  had  written  back  a  letter  all  stained  with  tears, 
saying,  "Yes,  you  can  go;  but  I  never  before  realized  what  it  must  have  cost 
God  to  let  an  only  son  come  to  this  world."  This  was  an  only  son,  and  the 
mother  was  coming  pretty  closely  into  sympathy  w-ith  God.  But  you  people 
who  have  only  one  child,  remember  that  God  had  only  one  Son,  and  he  sent 
him;  and  where  would  you  and  I  be  if  he  had  not  come? 

There  is  an  old  black  woman  up  in  Cleveland  who  was  born  as  a  slave,  and 
who  can't  read  a  word,  and  who  hasn't  a  penny  that  she  doesn't  earn  over  a 
wash-tub.  She  can't  give  much  to  missions,  can  she?  She  actually  gives  fifty 
dollars  a  year.  Her  pastor  told  me  about  her.  Fifty  dollars  a  year  from  an 
ex-slave  who  can't  read  a  word,  and  who  hasn't  a  penny  that  she  doesn't  earn 
over  a  wash-tub!  Her  pastor  went  to  her  a  while  ago  and  said  to  her,  "Why, 
yoy  are  giving  too  much.  How  can  you  give  so  much  as  this?"  "Why,"  she 
said,  "this  is  the  very  joy  of  my  life.  I  can't  give  any  less.  It  is  what  I  get 
satisfaction  out  of  in  all  the  hard  work  I  have  got  to  do.  Why,  very  often," 
she  said,  "when  I  am  at  work  over  a  wash-tub,  and  the  drops  of  sweat  are  fall- 
ing down  off  my  brow  into  the  soap-suds  below  me,  these  sweat  drops  suggest 
to  me  the  jewels  I  am  laying  up  in  the  presence  of  Jesus  by  this  humble  serv- 
ice that  I  am  able  to  render."  This  old  black  wopian,  with  her  joyful  sacrifice 
never  thought  of  it  as  sacrifice.  She  was  able  to  carry  the  knowledge  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  about  twenty-five  of  her  black  brothers  and  sisters  every  year  with 
her  fifty  dollars;  for. every  two  dollars  you  invest  in  missions  ought  to  carry 
the  gospel  to  another  human  soul  somewhere  who  otherwise  never  will  hear 
of  it. 

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I  tell  ;you  it  is  a  pretty  serious  thing  to  throw  two  clollars  away  on  something 
that  is  unnecessary,  when  the  investment  of  it  in  the  redemption  of  men  will 
carry  it  to  another  soul.  It  is  a  pretty  serious  thing.  We  can  evangelize  the 
world  at  that  rate.  Is  that  too  much?  Wlien  Ve  went  to  war  -with 
the  Soiith,  what  did  it  cost  to  set  the  slaves  free?  Twelve  hundred  dollars 
for  every  man,  woman,  and  child  that  was  set  free;  and  one  Northern  soldier 
poured  out  his  heart's  blood  for  every  eighteen  that  were  set  free.  We  are 
only  asking  to-day  for  one  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ  for  every  twenty-five  thou- 
sand of  the  bond  slaves  of  sin;  and  we  are  only  asking  for  two  dollars  to  set 
every  man  free,  or  give  him  a  chance  to  be  set  free;  and  yet  some  of  you  say 
it  is  entirely  too  expensive,  and  we  can't  undertake  it.  Would  it  be  too  expen- 
sive if  you  were  in  the  other  man's  place,  and  if  he  had  your  power  to  help? 
"Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them." 

A  few  years  ago  a  boat  was  lost  off  the  northwest  coast  of  Ireland,  in  one  of 
the  dreadful  storms  that  beset  that  coast.  Instantly  a  life-boat  was  put  out 
tor  their  recovery,  with  a  brave  crew  of  Irish  sailors.  They  reached  the  wreck 
and  gathered  up  one  after  another  into  the  life-boat  from  the  waveg,  and  they 
thought  they  had  them  all,  when  they  saw  one  man  away  off  on  a  broken  piece 
of  the  vessel,  and  said,  "There  is  another  man  we  must  get."  With  one  glance 
at  the  already  overladen  boat,  the  experienced  sailors  said,  "No,  we  have  got  too 
heavy  a  load  already;  we  will  lose  the  whole  crowd  if  we  go  out  to  sea  in  this 
way.  We  must  go  out  to  the  shore  and  come  again  for  this  man."  They  got 
safely  to  the  shore  and  turned  again  to  face  that  sea,  but  the  waves  had  so 
risen  in  their  fury  since  they  started  out  the  first  time,  that  even  those  brave 
Irishmen  were  afraid  to  venture  upon  it.  They  said,  "It  is  simply  madness 
to  go  out  on  a  sea  like  that;  it  means  simply  suicide  for  us  all;  we  must  leave 
that  man  to  the  mercy  of  God,  and  seek  shelter  for  ourselves."  When  they 
started  to  seek  shelter,  one  young  fellow  stood  firm ;  and  as  they  stopped  to  see 
what  he  meant,  they  heard  hin\  say  qiiietly  but  firmly,  "If  anybody  will  go 
with  me  to  help  with  tliis  boat,  we  will  go  and  see  what  we  can  do,  anyhow." 
His  old  mother  heard  him  say  it,  and,  throwing  her  arms  passionately  around 
his  neck^  she  besought  him  for  her  sake  not  to  go.  "You  know  very  well  how 
your  father  was  lost  at  sea,"  she  said,  "and  how  three  years  ago  your  brother 
William  went  to  sea  and  we  have  never  seen  him  since;  he  has  been  lost,  too; 
and  now  if  you  go,  my  last  and  only  son  and  my  only  svipport  in  my  old  age 
and  widowhood  will  be  lost,  and  I  will  be  left  alone  and  helpless."  If  any- 
thing could  have  moved  his  soul,  it  would  have  been  that.  What  did  he  do  ? 
He  put  her  arms  tenderly  from  his  neck  and  kissed  her  good-by,  and  tried  to 
encourage  her  v.'ith  the  fact  that  God  was  in  the  storm  as  well  as  in  the  calm, 
and  if  it  were  his  will  he  would  surely  return,  but  if  not  he  preferred  to  die 
doing  what  he  believed  to  be  his  duty.  Another  man  volunteered,  and  they 
started  out  on  their  perilous  voyage.  They  were  vers'  soon  lost  sight  of  in 
the  mist  and  haze  over  the  waves,  but  every  eye  was  stretched  in  that  direction 
for  the  first  glimpse  of  theij*  return.  Long  and  eagerly  they  watched,  every 
floating  object  on  the  water  gripping  their  attention,  until  they  Avere  sure  it 
could  not  be  the  returning  boat.  Finally  they  saw  the  boat  actually  coming 
back,  but  they  were  not  yet  able  to  discern  whether  the  third  man  had  been 
found,  and  so  they  called  out  through  a  speaking  trumpet  to  them  the  qvies- 

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Bible  Conference  Addresses 

tion,  "Have  you  found  him?"  And  back  over  the  storm  the  answer  came, 
"Yes,  we  have  found  him;  and  tell  mother  it  is  brother  William  that  we  have 
saved."  Our  elder  brother,  the  Savior  of  men,  thought  it  worth  while  not  only 
to  risk  life,  but  to  pour  it  out  unto  death  that  he  might  make  us  and  forever 
more  call  us  his  brethren ;  and  now  to  encourage  us  to  risk  something  to  save 
the  other  man  he  says  to  vis — do  we  hear  the  voice  to-night  ? — "Inasmuch  as  ye 
have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto 
me."    Can  we  do  it  for  him? 

Doctor  funkhouser's  Prayer. 

0  God,  our  Heavenly  Father,  we  look  up  to  thee  in  great  gratitude  at  this 
hour  for  the  gift  of  thy  dear  Son,^our  Savior.  We  thank  thee  that  thou  didst 
love  the  world,  and  didst  so  love  us  as  to  give  thy  Son.  We  thank  thee,  blessed 
Christ,  now  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father  interceding  in  our  behalf,  we 
thank  thee  that  thou  didst  ever  consent  to  come.  We  thank  thee  for  thy  birth. 
We  thank  thee  lor  thy  words,  thy  .works,  and  thy  death,  that  we  might  have 
everlasting  life.  Oh,  what  shall  we  render  unto  thee  for  all  that  thou  hast 
done  for  us?  Thou  didst  give  all  of  thyself.  Can  we  do  less?  We  have  not 
brought  the  whole  offering.  Lord.  We  have  kept  back  part  of  the  price.  We 
have  professed  to  give  thee  all,  and  we  confess  to-night  with  sharne  that  we 
have  not  brought  our  entire  selves  to  thee.  Forgive  us.  Lord;  and  may  every 
one  of  us  to-night,  in  view  of  this  amazing  love,  in  view  of  the  greatness  of  the 
work  which  thou  dost  want  done  in  the  world,  in  view  of  the  hundreds  of  mil- 
lions of  our  brothers  who  have  never  heard  of  thee,  may  every  one  of  us  pledge 
himself  and  herself  that  from  this  hour  on  we  will  give  thee  all.  We  will  not 
only  give  our  money,  bvit  we  will  give  ourselves  first.  We  will  bring  our 
bodies  a  living  sacrifice.  We  will  give  our  time,  we  will  give  our  money,  in 
order  that  thy  great  pui"pose  concerning  this  world  may  be  wrought  out,  in 
order  that  thy  great  purpose  in  our  lives  may  be  accomplished.  O  God,  accept 
our  gratitude  for  this  conference,  for  the  very  first  meeting  which  brought  to 
us  so  forcibly  the  message  of  love,  of  service,  of  sacrifice.  We  thank  thee  for 
that  first  service.  We  thank  thee  for  Friday's  service,  under  the  leadership  of 
thy  servant,  showing  us  how  we  ought  to  give — ^pay  over  to  thee  at  least  the  one- 
tenth  of  our  income  to  the  carrying  out  of  this  great  purpose.  We  thank  thee 
for  yesterday's  helpful  services.  We  thank  thee  for  this  glorious  Sabbath  day, 
bringing  us  up  and  out  into  a  world-wide  view  of  our  responsibility.  O  God, 
we  stand  condemned  before  thee,  and  we  remember  the  greatness  of  the  task 
and  how  little  we  have  done ;  the  greatness  of  the  opportunity  and  how  little 
willingness  we  have  showni.  O  over  God,  forgive  us.  We  thank  thee  for  the 
message  of  the  afternoon ;  and  now  we  thank  thee  for  this  helpful  message  to- 
night. O  Holy  Spirit,  take  of  the  things  of  Christ  and  declare  them  unto  us 
through  this  earnest  presentation  of  the  truth.  Do  thou  make  our  hearts, 
every  heart,  as  the  good  soil  into  which  this  seed  shall  fall  and  quicken  and 
bring  forth  a  great  harvest,  not  thirtyfold,  Lord,  not  sixtyfold,  but  a  hundred- 
fold, to  glorify  thy  great  name. 

We  invoke  the  choicest  of  thy  blessings,  our  Heavenly  Father,  upon  thy 
servant  who  was  with  ixs  on  Friday,  in  his  ministry  for  his  own  fold  to-night. 

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Give  him  a  great  blessing.  Upon  thy  servant  whom  thou,  we  believe,  didst 
send  to  us  for  these  faithful  presentations  of  thy  truth,  give  him  a  great  bless- 
ing, enrich  his  heart  more  and  more,  and  make  him  stjll  a  greater  instrument 
in  thy  hands  in  leading  others.  We  thank  thee  for  the  great  truths  which  he 
has  brought  to  us.  They  have  humbled  us,  they  have  put  us  doAvn  into  the 
dust;  but  we  thank  thee  for  these  truths. 

Now,  give  us  all  thy  blessing  and  send  us  out  to  carry  out  in  our  lives  these 
things  which  we  have  heard  these  days,  and  bring  us  at  last  to  see  thee  face  to 
face,  with  some  sheaves.  Lord,  for  the  great  garner  at  last.    Amen. 

Mr.  White:  Ye  shall  receive  power,  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come 
upon  you :  and  shall  be  my  witnesses  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judea,  and  in 
Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  Now,  if  we  are  going  to 
surrender  all  to  Christ  and  let  the  Spirit  of  God  fill  our  lives,  that  is  what  we 
are  going  to  do.  How  far  are  we  ready  to  let  him  use  us  in  doing  these  things 
as  we  go  out  from  this  conference?  I  wish  we  might  hear  from  a  great  many 
of  your  people  who  have  been  present  at  these  meetings  about  their  attitude 
to  Christ's  great  world-purpose.  There  isn't  anything  that  counts  like  the 
thing  a  man  is.  There  is  no  use  in  his  talking  to  people  about  doing  some- 
thing that  he  isn't  doing  himself.  It  is  wasted  breath.  There  isn't  any  appeal 
like  the  appeal  of  life.  Some  one  says,  "What  you  are  speaks  so  loud  that  I 
can't  hear  what  you  say."  That  is  always  true.  It  is  the  thing  a  man  is  that 
tells.  Now,  I  wonder  how  far  we  are  going  just  to  put  ourselves  into  identifi- 
cation with  Christ  to  have  his  puipose  fulfilled.  We  have  not  time  for 
speeches,  but  we  do  have  time  to  hear  men,  and  women,  too,  if  you  care  to,— 
gather  up  into  a  single  sentence  the  great  life  purpose  which  God  has  given 
them.  You  may  not  necessarily  have  been  here  at  this  conference,  but  what 
is  your  controlling  life  purpose  ?  What  do  you  want  it  to  be  ?  and  your  words 
may  very  greatly  help  a  whole  lot  of  the  rest  who  are  just  trying  to  decide 
what  our  commanding  life  purpose  should  be.  Now,  without  waiting  one  for 
the  other,  let  the  Spirit  of  God  suggest  to  you  what  to  say,  and  then  say  it. 
Don't  disappoint  him;  don't  disobey  him;  let  him  have  his  way.  Turn  around, 
so  all  the  audience  can  hear,  and  speak  out  quite  plainly.  There  are  a  whole 
lot  of  you  people  who  could  have  talked  better  than  those  who  have  been  doing 
it,  who  have  been  sitting  here  all  these  days.  We  want  to  give  you  a  little 
chance  in  these  last  closing  moments  just  to  gather  up  the  greatest  burden  of 
your  life  in  the  form  of  a  purpose. 

In  response  to  this  request,  an  after-meeting  of  one  hour  was  held,  during 
which  scores  of  persons  testified  to  the  blessings  that  .had  come  to  them 
through  the  meeting,  and  experiences  of  their  past  lives  and  promises  for  the 
future  lives  were  given. 

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Sl^ontiap  ^^otnins. 


Monday,  May  7,  1906. 
On  Monday  morning,  at  10:00  o'clock,  J.   Campbell  White  addressed  the 
Dayton  Ministerial  -Association  at  the  regular  meeting  in  the  Y.  M.   C.  A. 
building,  as  follows: 

Address  of  J.  Campbell  White. 

■I  greatly  appreciate  the  privilege  of  speaking  to  this  representative  audience 
of  leaders  in  this  city,  and  representatives  also  from  a  wide  section  of  the 
whole  country.  I  didn't  suppose  it  was  going  to  be  so  large  and  important  a 
meeting,  and  have  not  got  all  the  manuscript  of  my  address  in  my  pocket  that 
I  may  refer  to  in  case  I  happen  to  forget,  but  out  of  the  fullness  of  my  heart 
I  want  to  say  two  or  three  things  to  you  along  the  line  of  my  deepest  convic- 
tion of  what  the  church  ought  to  attempt  seriously  to  do  in  our  day.  I  am  not 
a  sectarian  of  any  kind.  I  hope  for  the  day,  and  pray  for  it,  when  we  shall 
all  be  one  in  the  fullest  possible  sense.  I  had  the  privilege,  after  leaving  col- 
lege, of  going  out  among  the  colleges  of  this  country  and  visiting  for  two 
years  among  them,  touching  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  them  at  that  time 
of  all  denominations,  and  it  struck  out  of  my  life  the  narrowness  that  had 
been  in  it  before,  for  I  saw  that,  after  all,  there  isn't  so  very  much  difference 
between  the  denominations  when  you  get  down  to  the  real  fundamentals  that 
they  all  believe.  The  little  things  that  separate  us  are  fragmentary  and  inci- 
dental and  entirely  subordinate  when  one  really  comes  to  look  at  them  in  their 
right  perspective.  And  then  I  went  out  for  ten  years  to  India,  and  worked 
face  to  face  with  heathenism,  side  by  side  with  Methodists  and  Baptists  and 
Presbyterians  and  all  the  other  kinds,  and  we  forget  all  of  these  little  things 
that  keep  us  apart.  If  you  could  leave  it  to  a  vote  of  the  foreign  mission- 
aries representing  all  of  your  bodies  here  to-day,  whether  or  not  we  divide 
any  more  and  waste  a  whole  lot  of  time  and  energy  and  money  by  these  imnec- 
essary  divisions,  I  think  you  would  get  a  pretty  unanimous  vote  that  we 
should  not  work  any  more  in  that  kind  of  way.  The  missionary  enterprise  is 
uniting  the  church  as  possibly  nothing  else  is,  and  it  isn't  any  wonder,  for 
Christ  prayed  that  "they  all  might  be  one,  that  the  world  might  believe,"  and 
the  two  things  go  together,  and  as  we  get  a  world  view  and  a  world  purpose  we 
do  come  closer  together  and  the  little  things  that  divide  us  sink  out  of  sight. 
I  believe  the  more  fully  we  throw  ourselves  into  an  associated  effort  to 
win  the  world  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  more  we  will  feel  these  differences  sink  out 
of  sight  and  the  more  unity  we  will  feel.  Now,  the  more  we  act  and  plan 
together  and  pray  together  and  cooperate  in  bringing  about  such  a  result,  the 
better.     On  the  foreign  missionary  field  they  have  already  done  it.     We  have 

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got  to  trust  each  other  there  to  preach  a  full  gospel,  for  no  one  denomination 
is  going  to  attempt  to  cover  the  foreign  missionary  field.  When  we  get  over 
there  we  have  a  thousand  millions  of  people.  The  Methodists  are  satisfied  to 
take  fifty  or  sixty  or  one  hundred  millions  and  try  to  preach  to  them  and  let 
some  of  the  rest  of  us  have  a  chance  at  the  others,  and  the  Baptists,  even  with 
all  the  things  they  believe  so  strongly,  are  quite  satisfied  to  take  a  little  bunch 
of  forty  or  fifty  millions  and  leave  the  rest  of  us  have  a  chance  at  somebody 
else,  and  we  trust  each  other  to  preach  to  those  people  a  gospel  tliat  is  ade- 
quate,'that  will  do  the  business,  and  if  we  could  only  divide  up  our  own  coun- 
try in  some  such  sensible  way  and  leave  a  denomination  to  occupy  and  work  a 
field,  how  much  we  coiald  save  to  piit  out  into  some  other  field  where  nobody 
is  at  work.  I  do  hope  more  and  more  that  spirit  is  going  to  prevail,  and  we 
are  not  going  to  multiply  agencies  in  fields  where  there  isn't  room  for  them  to 
become  strong  enough  not  only  to  be  self-supporting,  but  powerfully  mission- 
ary. A  field  that  isn't  large  enough  for  a  church  to  grow  up  in  j'.nd  become 
self-svipporting  and  take  an  interest  in  the  world  enterprises  for  Jesus  Christ, 
is  doomed  to  narrowness  forever.  The  only  way  any  church  can  have  the  large 
light  it  ought  to  have  is  for  it  to  be  big  enough  to  support  itself  and  to  give  a 
whole  lot  of  money  and  workers  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  we  are  getting  a 
debilitated  Christianity,  an  emaciated  Christianity  in  a  lot  of  the  towns  of 
this  country  by  having  a  half  dozen  churches  among  five  hundred  ^>eople  with 
no  hope  of  any  of  them  ever  getting  strong  enough  to  take  a  large  lookoiit  and 
a  large  effort  in  the  rest  of  the  world. 

Now,  what  I  have  said  about  not  being  a  sectarian  I  want  you  to  keep  in 
mind  while  I  speak  of  two  or  three  things  in  connection  with  our  own  United 
Presbyterian  Church,  for  there  are  three  features  that,  so  far  as  jny  observa- 
tion goes,  are  unique  in  that  denomination,  they  having  sprvmg  up  in  the  last 
three  years.  All  of  them,  I  believe,  are  in  line  with  the  great  purpose  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  win  the  world,  and  I  believe  they  may  have  some  suggestive  value  to 
the  leaders  of  other  churches,  and  I  want  you  to  imderstand  that  it  is  not  in 
any  boastful  or  sectarian  spirit  that  I  am  speaking,  but  merely  by  way  of  sug- 
gestion of  what  I  believe  all  our  churches  ought  to  face,  consider,  and  under- 
take in  the  name  of  God. 

Three  years  ago  last  October  our  missionary  force  in  India,  away  up  in  the 
northwest  corner  of  India,  with  five  millions  of  people  around  them  that  they 
were  supposed  to  reach,  and  only  fifty  workers  at  the  end  of  fifty  years  of  work, 
decided  that  it  was  an  utterly  impossible,  impracticable  task  for  them  to  reach 
that  five  millions  unless  the  home  church  would  see  that  field  with  them  in  its 
magnitude  and  would  send  to  their  help  a  far  larger  number  of  trained  leaders 
from  this  country.  It  was  the  first  time  in  fifty  years  they  ever  had  deliber- 
ately looked  around  over  their  field  with  the  great  commission  before  them, 
"Go  ye  into  all  this  field  and  preach  the  gospel  to  eveiy  one"  of  these  five  mil- 
lions of  people,  and  deliberately  and  prayerfully  asked  themselves  on  what 
conditions  they  might  come  to  do  that  thing.  The  first  time  in  fifty  years ! 
It  is  very  strange  that  missionaries  can  be  face  to  face  with  a  need  like  that 
for  a  generation  and  more  without  trying  to  decide  that  question.  But  if  you 
were  to  write  to  your  missionaries  you  would  probably  find  that  exactly  the 
same  thing  has  been  true  of  them.     They  have  been  appealing  year  after  year 

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for  two  or  three  workers  to  take  up  work  right  around  them  which  is  urgently 
needed,  and  you  have  lieen  saying  to  them,  "No,  we  can't  send  you  any  more," 
and  they  have  never  dared  to  give  you  an  adequate  statement  of  the  need  of 
the  whole  field.  Many  of  our  mission  boards,  when  they  had  got  these  appeals 
even  for  three  or  four  men  have  been  so  afraid  to  tell  the  truth  of  what 
was  needed  that  these  appeals  have  gone  into  pigeonholes  and  have  never  got 
to  the  ear  of  the  church  at  all,  and  that  is  the  reason  why  your  missionaries 
have  never  told  you  the  whole  truth. 

But  this  group  of  people,  iinder  an  inspiration  that  came  to  them,  decided 
that  they  would  once  for  all  tell  the  tnith  about  the  needs  of  their  field,  and 
after  ten  days  of  prayer  and  conference  together  with  a  specific  looking  over 
the  entire  field,  every  man  in  every  district  getting  up  and  saying  what  he 
knew  was  absolutely  necessary  in  that  field  if  all  those  people  were  to  be  made 
intelligent  about  the  gospel  message,  they  found  simply  by  their  own  state- 
ment of  what  was  needed,  the  first  time  they  had  ever  made  it  in  each  other's 
presence,  that  they  were  going  to  need  a  three  or  fourfold  increase  of  workers 
in  order  to  occupy  and  evangelize  that  field.  So  this  little  group  of  less  than 
fifty  finally  came  to  this  conclusion :  It  is  impossible  for  us  under  these  condi- 
tions to  reach  these  people.  At  the  present  rate  it  will  jirobably  mean  two  or 
three  centuries  before  the  church  grows  strong  enough  to  reach  the  whole  five 
millions  in  this  district.  In  the  meanwhile  several  generations  of  men  and 
women  will  have  died  without  Christ.  Is  that  all  he  meant  when  he  said, 
"Preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature"  ?  And  they  believed  it  was  not  all  he 
meant,  and  so  they  said,  "We  don't  believe  it  is  possible  in  our  day  to  carry 
the  gospel  to  all  these  people  and  make  it  intelligent  to  them  unless  our  home 
church  will  send  to  our  help  enough  workers  to  put  one  in  every  district  of 
twenty-five  thousand  heathen,  either  a  man.  or  a  woman  in  every  district  of 
that  size,"  and  when  they  figured  it  up  they  found  that  it  meant  asking  for 
one  hundred  and  eighty  new  workers.  They  had  never  asked  for  more  than  ten 
in  a  single  year  before,  and  it  was  only  by  a  tremendous  stretch  of  faith  that 
they  dared  ask  for  ten.  They  generally  asked  for  two  or  three  or  four,  but 
after  all  these  days  of  prayer  and  thought,  the  conviction  came  over  them  with 
such  overwhelming  force  as  to  be  irresistible  that  they  must,  to  be  true  to  Christ, 
to  be  true  to  those  five  millions  of  people  for  whom  they  were  responsible,  to 
be  true  to  the  home  church  that  sent  them  out  as  its  representatives,  they  must 
tell  the  truth  fearlessly,  whatever  happened;  and  they  said  to  the  home  church: 
"If  you  mean  to  obey  Christ  and  preach  the  gospel  to  these  people,  it  is  our 
solemn  conviction  that  you  must  send  us  one  hundred  and  eighty  new  work- 
ers," and  every  worker  on  the  field  signed  his  name  to  the  appeal  and  it  came 
home  to  the  chiirch  like  an  earthqiiake  shock — one  hundred  and  eighty  workers 
in  one  field  when  we  have  only  got  fifty  there  after  fifty  years,  and  other  mis- 
sion fields  larger  than  that  yet  not  heard  from.  And  some  of  the  people  were 
inclined  to  think  that  it  was  just  bluft'  and  by-jilay,  and  criticised  the  mission- 
aries for  getting  enthusiastic  and  fanatical,  and  three  or  four  months  later 
our  missionary  association  met  in  Egypt.  Some  of  you  know  that  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church  has  practically  the  whole  of  Egyi^t  in  its  charge  to  evan- 
gelize, ten  millions  of  people.  The  missionary  association  there  went  through 
the  same  kind  of  process.    They  were  inclined  to  criticise  and  abuse  the  Indian 

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missionaries,  saying,  "Those  fellows  are  getting  a  very  undue  advantage  of  us, 
asking  for  so  much,  while  there  is  no  reason  to  think  we  will  get  anybody  for 
twenty-five  years  if  they  get  so  many."  They  had  not  looked  over  their  field 
and  didn't  know  what  was  needed,  but  by  the  time  the  meeting  came 
around  there  were  workers  who  saw  the  necessity  of  either  saying  something 
about  their  field  or  keeping  quiet  about  it.  God  pressed  it  upon  them  that 
they  must  at  least  consider  what  Christ  wanted  done  in  Egypt,  and  one  after 
another  they  expressed  themselves,  spending  a  whole  half  day  in  gathering  up 
what  was  to  be  done  in  the  different  districts  in  that  country,  with  the  result 
that  they  decided  upon  exactly  the  same  thing  that  had  been  asked  in  India, 
and  headed  their  statement  to  the  home  church  by  saying:  "We  believe  that 
our  brethren  in  India  were  right,  and  our  knowledge  of  heathenism  convinces 
us  that  it  is  impossible  in  any  of  these  countries  to  carry  the  gospel  to  all  these 
people  unless  the  church  will  undertake  it  in  something  like  that  serious  kind 
of  way,  and  we  ask  in  Egypt  for  one  worker  to  every  twenty-five  thousand, 
which  is  two  hundred  and  eighty  more." 

Well,  that  was  a  second  eai-thqual<:e  shock  that  lasted  longer  and  went 
deeper.  But  the  church  at  home  began  to  think  there  must  be  something  in  it, 
and  they  began  to  study  into  it  and  preachers  began  to  say  to  themselves, 
"Supposing  I  had  twenty-five  thousand  people  right  around  me  here,  one- 
fourth  of  whom  are  already  Christians;  wouldn't  it  be  a  pretty  big  chunl?, 
even  thovigh  they  all  speak  the  English  language  and  are  all  favorably  in- 
clined to  Christianity  if  to  any  religion,  and  are  here  in  a  decent  climate 
v\'here  I  can  work  eleven  or  twelve  months  in  a  year?"  And  most  of  them 
who  were  honest  said  that  they  wouldn't  care  to  have  a  much  bigger  field  than 
that  even  here.  And  when  you  put  it  in  heathen  surroundings,  with  nine-tenths 
of  the  people  unable  to  read  a  word  of  any  language,  who  must  be  reached,  if 
at  all,  by  the  living  messenger  in  a  hostile  climate,  where  people  are  not  favor- 
ably disposed  to  Christianity  but  powerfully  prejudiced  against  it,  and  in 
many  cases  preferring  to  kill  their  children  rather  than  have  them  come  out 
on  the  side  of  Christ,  they  began  to  see  that  when  the  missionaries  undei'took 
deliberately  to  be  responsiWe  for  carrying  the  gospel  to  each  of  the  twenty- 
five  thousand  people  of  that  kind,  they  were  undertaking  the  most  colossal 
thing  that  ever  men  undertook  in  the  name  of  God.  And  that  impression  has 
been  deepening  through  the  years,  and  when  the  General  Assembly,  the  highest 
court  of  our  church,  met  three  or  four  months  later,  the  whole  church  was  very 
anxious  to  know  whether  it  would  ttirn  the  whole  thing  down  as  impracti- 
cable; but  after  the  days  of  prayer  and  of  persuasion  following  the  reports, 
the  General  Assembly  without  a  dissenting  voice  said:  "We  must  recognize 
these  appeals  as  the  voice  of  God  and  we  must  adopt  this  as  the  ruling  policy 
of  our  church  and  undertake  on  our  peril  to  obey  Christ  as  we  understand  his 
commission."  I  don't  know  whether  any  -other  church  in  the  world  is  com- 
mitted officially  to  that  kind  of  a  program  or  not,  but  I  wish  they  all  were, 
and  I  pray  that  the  day  may  come  speedily  when  all  of  them  are.  I  think 
a  long  step  was  taken  toward  it  down  at  Nashville  a  couple  of  months  ago 
when  the  secretaries  of  .all  the  foreign  mission  boards  in  this  country,  after 
considering  this  whole  question  for  an  hour  or  two,  decided  that  they  would 
now   for   the   first   time   in   their   history  send   out   a   question   to    all   their 

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Bible  Conference  Addresses 

representatives  in  all  lands,  saying,  "TJnder  what  conditions  do  you  believe, 
with  your  experience,  it  will  be  possible  actually  to  evangelize  the  people  in 
your  field  ?"  and  within  a  year  we  may  hope  to  have  the  official  statement  of  all 
American  missionaries  over  the  world  on  that  basis.  I  do  not  ask  you  to  take 
the  judgment  of  our  missionaries.  I  ask  you  when  the  statement  comes  of 
your  own  workers,  it  may  be  weighed  as  it  deserA'es  to  be  weighed  in  the  light 
of  God's  truth  and  God's  plan  for  this  world,  and  do  not  put  it  into  pigeon- 
holes as  an  utterly  impracticable  and  fanatical  enterprise.  I  am  hoping 
that  before  many  more  months  pass,  all  the  churches  in  this  country  may  de- 
cide that  when  Christ  said,  "Go.  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,"  he 
meant  his  people  in  every  age  to  do  it.  Anything  else,  anything  less,  is  trifling 
with  the  great  commission.  Did  he  mean  that  it  would  be  satisfactory  to  him 
if  we  preached  the  gospel  to  a  few  people  and  then  went  on  our  way  living  for 
our  own  pleasure  and  profit  and  glory,  and  let  these  few  preach  to  the  children 
of  a  few  more,  and  they  preach  to  the  great-grandchildren  of  a  few  more,  and 
in  the  meantime  hundreds  of  millions  of  people  die  without  any  knowledge  of 
Jesus  Christ?  Is  it  conceivable  that  Jesus  Christ  meant  that?  There  isn't 
any  intelligent  interpretation  of  his  great  commission  except  the  interpreta- 
tion that  literally  undertakes  to  do  what  he  said,  and  the  church,  has  never 
undertaken  it  yet,  never  yet  in  modem  times  at  any  rate,  and  that  is  the 
great  obligation  with  which  we  are  face  to  face  now — the  question  of  whether 
we  have  a  God  whom  it  is  safe  to  attempt  to  obey.  I  believe  that  God  knows 
more  about  this  world  than  I  do,  and  that  when  he  says  a  thing  is  to  be  done 
and  when  he  says  he  will  stand  by  and  see  that  it  is  done,  that  he  tmderstands 
the  end  from  the  beginning  and  is  able  to  carry  out  his  own  plans;  but  he 
cannot  caiTy  them  out  through  people  who  are  unwilling  to  be  his  partners 
and  channels  in  that  enterprise,  and  the  whole  reason  why  the  whole  world 
isn't  to-day  familiar  with  the  gospel  is  because  we  have  not  dared  to  obey,  and 
underneath  it  all  is  unbelief  in  God. 

The  next  step  was  to  see  whether  it  would  be  possible  to  find  these  workers. 
We  felt,  naturally,  that  the  colleges  of  the  church  were  the  places  where  we 
might  reasonably  expect  to  find  these  five  hundred  new  workers  that  were 
wanted,  and  so  a  deliberate  campaign  was  entered  upon  of  going  into  these 
colleges  and  lajdng  these  claims  upon  the  students  and  asking  them  whether 
they  would  be  willing  to  surrender  to  Christ  to  go  anywhere  in  the  world,  and 
whether,  in  view  of  these  providential  circumstances,  it  wasn't  plain  that  a 
much  larger  proportion  of  them  ought  to  give  their  lives  to  go  out  into  parts 
of  the  world  that  are  not  occupied.  As  the  result  of  this  effort  there  are  to-day 
in  oiir  colleges  about  125  volunteers,  out  of  the  560  new  missionaries  our 
church  needs. 

The  students  are  saying,  "We  are  ready  to  do  the  thing,"  and  all  the  college 
presidents  (we  have  got  five  of  them)  agree  and  have  published  statements 
under  their  own  names  and  signatures,  saying,  "We  believe  the  colleges  will 
stand  by  this  enterprise  and  furnish  all  these  workers." 

And  last  year  our  General  Assembly  went  a  step  farther  than  it  had  gone 
at  first,  and  said :  We  believe  not  only  that  the  church  ought  to  carry  out  this 
enterprise,  but  that  it  ought  to  try  to  do  it  within  the  next  ten  years  in  order 
to  get  the  gospel  to  the  people  who  are  now  perishing  so  rapidly  without  this 

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Union  Biblical  Seminary 

message,  which  is  the  only  thing  that  can  save  men  here  or  hereafter.  And 
so  we  need  to  raise  up  yoiuig  men  and  women  at  the  rate  of  at  least  fifty  a 
year  for  the  next  ten  years  for  this  enterprise,  and  we  believe  that  we  can  do 
it.  While  for  twenty  years  before  there  had  been  only  a  general  mission- 
ary influence  at  work  in  our  colleges,  leading  a  few  in  each  case  to  decide  to 
enter  upon  this  kind  of  work,  and  the  seminaries  were  saying  that  they  were 
being  depleted,  and  the  missionary  boards  were  saying  that  they  could  not 
find  enough  workers;  when  the  appeal  was  denominationalized  and  a  half 
dozen  of  the  representatives  of  our  own  church  went  out  into  the  field  for  the 
church,  and  said,  "Our  church  needs  you  in  this  thing,  and  if  you  do  not  do  it, 
it  will  not  be  done,"  the  result  was  that  instead  of  having  groups  of  four  or  five 
or  six  in  each  college,  we  have  groups  of  from  twenty  to  forty  in  each  college 
now  who  are  looking  forward  to  giving  their  lives  for  leadership.  It  is  trans- 
foitning  our  educational  policy,  with  the  result  that  the  chvirch  is  putting  its 
money  into  educational  work  as  it  never  did  before.  In  a  single  offering  in  one 
of  our  churches  a  couple  of  weeks  ago,  eighty-seven  thousand  dollars  were 
given  to  one  of  our  educational  institutions. 

The  educational  problem  of  all  our  churches  will  never  be  solved  until  we 
begin  seriously  to  raise  up  helpers  to  save  the  world,  and  when  the  church  gets 
the  conviction  that  that  is  the  business  of  our  educational  institutions,  they 
will  give  their  treasures  to  these  institutions  for  the  training  of  men.  And 
the  institutions  don't  deserve  to  have  the  money  until,  acting  for  Christian 
churches,  they  undertake  to  do  that  thing. 

Some  people  have  been  afraid  that  the  foreign  missionary  work  was  going 
to  overshadow  everything  else,  and  we  were  not  going  to  have  ministers  to  look 
after  the  home  fields  if  all  these  people  went  abroad.  Wliat  has  happened? 
As  we  have  gone  into  colleges  to  appeal  to  men  to  give  their  lives  for  this  work, 
many  of  the  students  who  had  been  fighting  the  question  of  the  ministry  for 
years,  by  their  own  confession  surrendered  to  Jesus  Christ  and  said,  "Yes,  if 
the  church  is  in  the  business  to  carry  out  the  will  of  Christ,  I  am  willing  to  go 
into  the  ministry  at  home ;  I  don't  feel  the  call  to  the  foreign  missionary  field, 
but  I  surrender  to  Jesus  Christ  for  leadership  here,"  and  the  seminaries  are 
fuller  of  men  to-day  than  they  have  been  in  their  history.  Why?  Because  we 
are  undertaking  to  carry  out  the  policy  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  he  is  going  to  fill 
all  parts  of  the  field  because  we  are  undertaking  the  whole  business  in  his  name. 
Do  you  think  you  can  solve  one  part  of  the  problem  of  Jesus  Christ,  without 
solving  all  parts  of  it?  Yoii  never  can.  You  m.ay  try  to.  You  may  set  one 
department  of  his  kingdom  over  against  another,  and  when  people  in  one  will 
have  nothing  to  do  with  those  in  another,  God  will  say,  "I  will  have 
nothing  to  do  with  you  until  yon  change."  The  only  way  we  can  have  the 
power  of  God  in  our  work  is  that  we  attempt  to  carry  out  the  policies  of  God 
in  this  world.  There  isn't  any  conflict  between  home  and  foreign  missions. 
These  home  mission  secretaries,  and  foreign  mission  secretaries,  and  educa- 
tional secretaries,  and  church  extension  secretaries  ought  to  get  down  on  their 
knees  together  day  by  day,  saying,  "Thy  kingdom  come,"  and  let  it  come  just 
as  fast  everywhere  as  it  can,  and  let  God  and  the  people  imder  God's  direction 
decide  where  it  shall  come  first.  Let  them  have  all  the  facts,  and  then  let  the 
work  proceed  as  God  develops  it.    He  knows  more  about  the  whole  thing  than 

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we  do,  but  to  hear  men  saying  that  there  is  danger  of  overloading  the  church 
and  destroying  the  home  base  when  our  Christians  are  giving  an  average  of 
three-fifths  of  a  cent  a  week  to  the  non-Christian  world,  is  foolish  riibbish. 
I  wonder  what  Christ  must  think  of  that  kind  of  tallv,  with  twenty-five  thou- 
sand districts  in  this  world  (the  paper  this  morning  quoted  me  as  saying 
twenty-five!  God  pity  some  of  these  reporters),  every  one  of  them  containing 
twenty-five  thousand  individuals,  every  one  of  whom  has  as  valuable  a  soul  as 
you  have,  without  a  worker  in  any  of  those  twenty-five  thousand  districts.  It 
is  no  time  for  the  secretary  of  any  board  to  twaddle  about  too  nmch  money 
being  paid  into  foreign  missions.  If  the  Christian  church  in  America  gave  an 
average  of  one  cent  a  week  to  this  enterprise,  it  would  be  ten  millions  a  year — 
we  give  seven  millions  now.  If  they  gave  a  postage  stamp  a  week,  it  would  be 
twenty  millions  a  year,  three  times  what  we  give  now.  If  they  gave  a  street- 
car fare  a  week,  it  would  be  fifty  millions  a  year,  seven  times  what  we  give 
now.  If  they  gave  the  equivalent  of  a  dish  of  ice  cream  a  week,  it  would  be  a 
hundred  millions  a  year.  If  they  gave  the  equivalent'  of  one  hour's  work,  not 
yoiir  work  and  mine,  but  the  work  of  the  Italians  and  Hungarians  who  cannot 
speaJv  our  language  and  who  don't  know  anything  but  to  handle  the  pick  and 
shovel,  but  who  get  fifteen  cents  an  hour, — if  we  gave  the  equivalent  of  one 
hour's  work  of  the  most  unskilled  laborer  in  this  country,  we  would  give  one 
hundred  and  fifty  millions  a  year.  We  give  seven  millions  now,  and  a  whole 
lot  of  people  are  protesting  in  the  church  papers  lest  the  church  give  too 
mvich  to  foreign  missions.  God  pity  them.  We  give  the  equivalent  of  only 
three  minutes'  work  a  week  now  for  the  redemption  of  the  whole  non- Christian 
world,  and  we  talk  about  surrendering  all  to  Jesus  Christ.  The  scorn  of  God 
is  upon  meu  who  trifle  in  that  liind  of  a  ^vay  with  the  great  redemptive  pur- 
poses of  Jesus  Christ,  who  died  to  save  the  world.  He  did  it  at  the  cost  of 
his  heart's  blood.  When  you  and  I  try  it,  we  give  him  the  equivalent  of 
three  minutes  a  week.  It  is  time  that  in  dust  and  ashes  the  church  should 
confess  her  sins  of  unbelief  and  disobedience  and  ignorance,  and  begin  to 
undertake  in  the  name  of  God  to  do  his  work.  Our  church  is  entirely  per- 
suaded that  we  are  never  going  to  get  the  money  we  need  for  this  enterprise 
by  taking  an  annual  collection,  even  if  the  bishop  comes  around  and  makes  a 
great  hurrah  speech  and  tries  to  get  the  people  to  give.  That  isn't  the  way  to 
finance  the  kingdom  of  God.  There  isn't  any  Biblical  authority  for  that  kind 
of  way  of  going  about  his  enterprises.  Paul  said,  "Upon  the  first  day  of  the 
week  let  every  one  of  you,"  not  just  the  heads  of  families,  "let  every  one  of  you 
lay  by  him  in  store,  as  God  hath,  prospered  him,"  and  if  it  is  important  every 
week  to  take  an  offering  for  the  support  of  the  pastor  who  preaches  to  Chris- 
tian people  for  the  most  part,  isn't  it  equally  important,  I  pray  you,  to  take 
an  offering  every  week  for  the  work  on  which  the  destiny  of  the  world  hinges  ? 
What  colossal  selfishness  and  natural  meanness  would  ever  have  suggested 
taking  an  annual  collection  for  missions  and  a  weekly  offering  for  ourselves? 
It  would  be  laughable  if  it  were  not  so  terrible.  They  want  to  think  about  it 
once  a  year  without  much  warning,  and  reach  into  their  pockets  hurriedly 
and  give  the  smallest  coin  and  have  done  with  it  for  twelve  months.  In  that 
spirit  it  will  be  centuries  yet  before  Christ's  commission  is  obeyed. 

But  when  you   show  men,  business  men,  that    money  will    make    a    man 

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omnipresent  and  almost  omnipotent  in  helping  his  brother  men  up  to  the  only 
worthy  life,  they  will  feel  under  eternal  obligation  to  you  for  showing  them 
how  to  live  a  large  life,  and  when  you  show  them  that  for  fifteen  cents  a  week 
they  can  evangelize  four  heathen  in  a  year,  or  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight 
in  a  generation,  and  they  begin  to  do  it,  a  new  significance  comes  into  the 
daily  toil  of  every  one  of  the  six  days  of  the  week,  and  there  are  many  of 
them  who  are  willing  to  put  a  day's  work  a  week  into  it,  two  dollars  a  week, 
perhaps,  and  reach  a  man  somewhere  every  week,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year 
fifty-two,  and  at  the  end  of  a  generation  1,716.  Isn't  that  worth  while?  Doc- 
tor Goueher,  of  Baltimore,  was  telling  awhile  ago  that  he  knew  of  a  man 
who  put  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  into  one  district  in  India  in  the  last 
twenty  years,  with  the  result  to-day  that  there  are  fifty  thousand  con- 
verts in  that  district  who  were  twenty  years  ago  idolaters.  That  two  dollars 
not  only  made  the  gospel  intelligent  to  the  man,  but  actually  led  him  to  an 
open  profession  of  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 

We  don't  promise  conversion.  Don't  misunderstand.  We  are  not  respon- 
sible for  conversion.  God  only  can  change  a  soul  and  breathe  into  it  new  life. 
But  your  object  and  mine  is  to  give  that  soul  an  intelligent  knowledge  of  the 
message  of  life,  and  we  can  do  that  in  the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  and  I 
believe  all  the  churches  can  do  it  at  an  average  of  two  dollars  for  each,  man  in 
these  fields.  Is  it  worth  that  to  give  a  man  a  chance  to  be  saved?  What  would 
it  be'worth  to  yon  if  you  were  in  his  place?  And  if  you  show  men  that  by  that 
kind  of  weekly  giving  of  their  income  to  God  they  may  share  largely  in  the 
work  of  transforming  the  world,  they  will  thank  you  for  it  to  the  end  of  their 
lives,  as  many  of  them  are  now  doing,  and  are  entering  into  the  business  of 
saving  the  world  as  seriously  as  any  missionary  who  goes  to  the  front.  There 
are  some  people  who  are  giving  as  much  as  thirty  dollars  a  week  in  our  own 
church,  reaching  seven  hundred  and  eighty  people  a  year,  or  more  than  twenty- 
five  thousand  in  a  generation.  Wliy  shouldn't  you?  Every  life  that  is  given 
to  missionary  service  is  supposed  to  occupy  one  of  those  districts  of  twenty- 
five  thousand  and  be  the  means  of  evangelizing  them._  If  a  man  here  at 
home  in  comfortable  surroundings  can  put  money  enough  into  the  work 
to  reach  twenty-five  thousand,  is  that  a  larger  offering  than  the  laying  down 
of  the  life  that  is  necessary  ?  Why,  I  say  to  you  that  I  think  it  is  a  great  deal 
smaller  offering.  I  believe  it  is  a  gTeat  deal  harder  to  give  the  life  than  it  is 
to  give  the  money.  I  believe  the  cheapest  thing  we  can  give  is  money.  I  have 
had  men  turn  over  to  me  a  thousand  dollars  or  five  thousand  dollars  in  a  single 
gift,  and  when  I  thanl?:ed  them  for  it  they  said,  "Oh,  there  is  no  special  reason 
for  thanking;  I  really  thank  you  for  the  opportunity.  This  doesn't  take  any 
mutton  chop  out  of  my  mouth  or  make  any  difference  in  my  bani?  account." 
It  doesn't  cost  them  very  much.  Even  those  of  us  who  can't  give  a  thousand 
dollars  at  a  time,  how  many  times  have  we  had  a  smaller  meal  in  order  that 
somebody  else  might  have  a  taste  of  the  Bread  of  Life?  How  large  are  our 
sacrifices  for  Christ?  I  am  glad  the  Salvation  Army,  that  is  represented  here 
this  morning,  has  a  week  or  a  month  of  self-denial.  There  is  only  one  thing 
the  matter  with  it.  It  is  not  long  enough.  Our  Lord  said,  "If  any  man  will  be 
my  disciple,  let  him  deny  himself  and  take  up  his  cross  daily  and  follow  me." 
And  if  all  our  churches  would  follow  Christ  it  would  be  a  year  of  self-denial, 

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and  then  another  and  then  another  until  life  ends,  and  every  day  we  would 
ask  ourselves  the  question  at  least  whether  we  can't  give  up  something  for 
Jesus  Christ,  and  most  days  we  would  find  that  we  can,  and  there  would  come 
into  our  hearts  such  a  joy  and  victory  in  companionship  with  Jesus  Christ  in 
his  passion  for  the  lost  world  as  most  of  us  have  never  dreamed  was  possible 
in  this  world. 

The  third  thing  our  church  has  seen  the  necessity  for,  if  we  are  going  to 
solve  this  problem,  is  the  rallying  and  enlisting  and  coordinating  of  the  latent 
forces  among  the  men  of  the  church  that  they  may  give  their  magnificent 
energy  to  the  greatest  business  enterprise  in  the  world.  We  have  seen  the 
absolute  necessity  of  doing  that,  and  have  been  studying  for  more  than  a 
year  to  see  how  that  third  step  could  be  taken,  with  the  result  that  we  had 
over  at  Pittsburg  in  the  middle  of  February  a  conference — a  business  men's 
conference — lasting  for  three  days,  when  a  thousand  men  from  all  over  this 
country  came  together  at  their  own  expense  to  consider  what  men  can  do  in 
this  enterprise,  .and  they  formulated  plans  before  they  separated,  and  launched 
definitely  a  men's  movement  looking  in  the  direction,  first  of  all,  of  setting 
every  man  at  work  in  his  own  community ;  that  is  the  place  to  work — where  the 
man  is :  set  him  at  work,  give  him  some  healthy  expression  of  the  spiritual  life 
within.  We  tried  for  years  to  organize  men's  missionary  societies  on  the  same 
basis  that  the  women's  are,  but  we  found  the  men  a  much  harder  proposition 
to  deal  with  than  the  women  are — not  so  unselfish,  not  so  far-sighted,  not 
willing  to  go  into  that  kind  of  enterprise  except  just  small  groups  of  some  of 
the  best  of  them,  and  we  decided  that  the  whole  thing  would  have  to  be  shifted 
around  and  the  men  would  have  to  be  at  work  just  where  they  are,  with  a 
real  missionary  spirit,  with  a  real  financial  outlook,  but  nevertheless  where 
they  could  see  the  need,  and  we  divided  the  church  up  into  eleven  departments, 
which  we  have  named,  in  a  little  booklet,  of  which  I  have  samples  enough  to 
give  to  most  of  yovi  who  may  not  have  secured  it  at  the  conference  the  other 
day.  Eleven  departments  of  service !  The  whole  church  is  divided  and  every 
male  member  of  the  church  is  to  be  assigned  to  one  of  those  departments ;  not 
a  men's  ckib  for  meeting  to  discuss  the  issues  of  the  day  and  for  a  lecture  on 
some  far-away  North  Pole  subject  occasionally,  but  a  men's  league  for  the 
business  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  community,  to  undertake  all  lines  of  church 
work  and  put  their  manhood  and  their  business  experience  into  it.  Their  expe- 
rience will  help  us  very  much.  Their  business  training  is  just  what  is  needed 
in  order  to  show  us  how  to  do  a  great  many  things  in  the  church. 

Now,  I  met  here  yesterday  that  man  who  got  up  in  the  theater  meeting,  from 
Chicago,  and  he  said  that  he  had  given  one  dollar  out  of  one  dollar  and  two 
cents,  and  if  we  kept  on  with  these  meetings  a  little  longer  we  would  get  the 
last  two  cents.  He  told  me  he  was  the  adertising  agent  for  Eand  &  McNally. 
I  told  him  he  was  just  the  kind  of  man  we  needed  in  church  enterprises  to 
advertise  her  work.  We  have  not  advertised  the  way  business  enterprises  have. 
Why,  if  the  church  knew  as  much  about  the  missionary  cause  as  it  knows 
about  Pears'  Soap,  how  many  hundreds  of  millions  would  be  put  into  the 
enterprises  in  a  single  year.  What  we  want  is  business  sense  and  ability  like 
the  business  men  of  our  churches  put  in  their  daily  work,  harnessed  up  to  the 
great  business  enterprise  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  we  can  get  it.     I  have 

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not  met  a  group  of  men  anywhere  in  this  country,  laymen  I  mean,  who  have 
not  at  once  responded  to  that  kind  of  appeal  and  said,  "Yes,  I  have  been  keep- 
ing a  seat  warm  and  giving  a  collection  long  enough;  give  me  something  to 
do."  It  is  a  divine  principle.  Paul  said,  "We  seek  not  yours,  but  you."  Is 
that  the  way  we  go  after  a  man,  or  do  we  generally  say,  "We  want  yours,  and 
care  mighty  little  about  you?"  That  is  the  impression  a  whole  lot  of  men 
have  got,  that  we  chiefly  want  them  to  fill  space  in  the  church  and  give  their 
offering.  Three  men  out  of  four  who  join  our  churches  are  never  definitely 
approached  and  assigned  a  definite  task  in  which  they  can  cooperate  and  build 
up  the  kingdom  of  God.  I  don't  believe  that  is  too  strong  a  statement,  and 
how  can  we  expect  that  the  men  are  going  to  give  their  energy  to  us  if  we 
don't  ask  them  to?  We  are  come  to  the  day  when  we  must  plan  the  work 
of  the  church  with  all  the  care  and  sense,  sanctified  sense,  that  a  great  depart- 
ment store  plans  its  work,  and  use  every  available  resource  to  get  that  work 
done,  of  course,  assigning  every  jnan  to  the  place  where  he  can  do  his  largest 
and  best  work,  and  by  doing  it  he  will  rise  as  every  energetic  man  rises  in 
every  business,  to  the  top,  and  we  have  got  a  rising  church  all  the  time,  and  a 
gathering  church,  instead  of  men  sloughing  off  by  the  thousands  all  the  time 
because  they  have  got  nothing  to  do  and  the  thing  doesn't  appeal  to  their  man- 
hood. There  isn't  anything  that  calls  them  out  the  way  the  war  cry  calls  out 
the  soldier.  Men  are  willing  to  be  enlisted  and  used  if  we  will  appeal  to  their 
manhood.  One  reason  why  the  proportion  of  women  is  so  much  greater  in 
the  church  than  of  men  is  because  we  have  not  given  men  a  man's  work  to  do 
in  connection  with  the  church.  I  haven't  time  to  go  into  the  details  of  the 
plans  of  organization.  They  are  doubtless  very  imperfect,  very  immature. 
The  telegraph  and  telephone  were  not  perfect  after  a  year  of  experiment,  but 
they  are  getting  more  perfect  all  the  time,  and  when  we  give  ourselves  to  the 
task  of  creating  a  machine  by  which  men  may  be  used,  we  are  going  to  make 
progress.  We  are  making  it  very  rapidly.  Why  shouldn't  all  the  churches 
join  in  enlisting  the  six  or  seveu  millions  of  men  who  are  members  of  our 
Protestant  churches  in  America  in  the  greatest  forward  movement  for  the  eon- 
quest  of  the  world  that  history  has  known? 

For  ten  years  I  was  in  connection  with  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, which  is  doing  a  power  of  good  all  over  the  world,  but  they  have  not  a 
great  crowd  of  men  who  are  doing  it.  I  suppose  it  would  be  a  very  liberal 
estimate  to  say  that  there  are  fifty  thousand  men  in  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  all  oyer  the  world  who  are  really  bearing  the  burden  of  it.  I 
suppose  that  would  be  a  very  liberal  estimate  of  it,  but  look  at  what  they  are 
doing.  Suppose  we  could  link  up  the  seven  millions  of  our  Protestant  male 
church-members  in  this  country;  we  would  have  an  organization  for  effective 
service  that  would  be  one  hundred  times  as  effective  as  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  and  I  say  it  with  all  honor  to  the  Association.  They 
have  shown  us  some  of  the  principles  along  which  we  are  to  develop  men,  and 
they  are  the  men  in  the  church  who  have  been  doing  it.  What  we  want  is  to 
call  all  our  men  out,  and  it  is  the  only  way  to  make  a  large  man  out  of  any- 
body, to  get  him  to  express  the  life  he  has  got.  It  is  psychological  that  a 
man's  life  will  wither  and  dwindle  if  he  doesn't  express.it.  I  have  seen  many 
a  man  in  India  who  had  held  his  right  arm  up  in  that  way  (erect)  until  it 

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Bible  Conference  Addresses 

grew  in  that  position  and  shriveled  up  until  it  was  nothing  but  skin  and  bone 
for  lack  of  expression  of  life.  There  are  a  great  lot  of  Christians  like  that, 
without  much  more  vitality  in  them  than  a  stick  of  wood,  for  lack  of  use. 
How  strong  would  that  arm  be  if  I  didn't  use  it  day  after  day?  How  strong 
can  a  man's  Christian  life  be  if  he  doesn't  give  it  exercise  and  use?  Wliat 
we  want  is  to  call  men  out  to  do  the  thing  that  they  can  do,  not  plunge  them 
all  into  the  place  to  make  a  speech.  We  have  better  sense  that  that.  Many 
of  them  cannot  do  that,  and  the  reason  why  there  are  so  many  dumb  Chris- 
tians in  our  prayer-meetings  and  our  churches  is  because  they  have  nothing 
to  talk  about;  they  don't  know  anything  of  the  line  of  goods  we  are  handling. 
You  send  these  same  men  out  on  the  road,  as  my  friend  Mr.  Clark  here  is 
day  after  day,  and  they  will  talk  from  St.  Louis  to  San  Francisco  about  sell- 
ing their  line  of  goods,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  business,  because  they  know 
about  it.  You  get  them  to  doing  something  in  the  Christian  life,  and  they 
will  have  something  to  talk  about  very  suddenly — without  trying,  it  will  come 
out.  A  man  can't  help  talking  about  the  thing  he  is  doing,  btit  many  of  them 
have  too  much  manhood  to  tell  ns  in  prayer-meeting  that  they  are  doing 
things  when  they  know  they  are  not.  It  is  only  common  honesty  and  decency 
in  them  to  keep  quiet.  .Set  them  at  work  and  the  church  will  hear  their  voices 
in  testimony. 

Those  are  the  three  messages  wliich  T  came  to  bring  this  morning,  the  mes- 
sages of  our  denomination,  if  we  have  any  messages.  It  is  true  that  we  sing 
the  Psalms,  and  on  their  merits  we  believe  they  are  the  most  inspiring  as  well 
as  the  most  inspired  songs  of  the  ages,  but  we  believe  the  characteristic  of  our 
denomination  in  history  is  going  to  be  a  spirit  of  loyal  obedience  to  the  great 
commanding  purpose  of  Jesus  Christ  and  an  attempt  to  align  all  the  forces  of 
the  church  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  will  of  God,  arid  I  don't  know  of  any 
other  purpose  or  characteristic  of  the  church  that  it  will  be  better  for  any  of 
our  denominations  to  have  when  we  meet  him  face  to  face. 

"I  said.  Let  me  walk  in  the  field; 
He  said,  Nay,  walk  in  the  town. 
I  said.  There  are  no  flowers  there: 
He  said,  No  flowers,  but  a  crown. 

"I  said.  But  the  skies  are  black, 

There  is  nothing  but  noise  and  din; 
Bvit  he  w^ept  as  he  sent  me  back. 
There  is  more,  he  said,  there  is  sin. 

"I  said.  But  the  air  is  thick, 

And  fogs  are  veiling  the  sun; 
He  answered,  Yet  souls  are  sick. 
And  so.uls.in  the  dark  undone. 

"I  said,  I  shall  miss  the  light. 

And  friends  will  miss  me,  they  say: 
He  answered  me.  Choose  to-night. 
If  I  am  to  miss  you,  or  they. 

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Union  Biblical  Seminary 


"I  pleaded  for  time  to  be  given; 
He  said,  Is  it  hard  to  decide? 
It  will  not  seem  hard  in  heaven 

To  have  followed  the  steps  of  your  guide. 

"I  cast  one  look  at  the  field. 
Then  set  my  face  to  the  town. 
He  said.  My  child,  do  you  yield? 

Will  you  leave  the  flowers  for  the  crown? 

"Then  into  his  hand  went  mine. 
And  into  my  heart  came  he. 
And  I  wjlk  in  a  light  divine. 
The  path  I  had  feared  to  see." 


110 


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